LIBRA.RY 

%  OP   THE 

Theological   Seminary, 

i     BV  600  .H3  1856  ^ 

Harbaugh,  Henry,  1817-1867 
Union  with  the  church 


Book,  Z^ 


UNION 
WITH   THE   CHUECH,   * 

THE 

SOLExMN  DUTY, 

AND 

THE    BLESSED    PRIVILEGE, 

OF   ALL 

WHO  WOULD  BE  SAVED. 


BY 

KEY.  H.  HAEEAUGH, 

adthor  «f  heatex,  ob  the  sainted  dead;  tits  heav£^^.t 

recogxition;  the  heavenly  home;  the 

birds  of  the  bible,  etc. 


"He  that  hath  not  the  Church  for  his  Mother, 
Lalh  not  God  for  his  Father." 


,    Sccoit>r  HtJition,  ai»cbiseU 
PHILADELPHIA: 

LIxNDSAY  &  BLAKISTON, 

1856. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congres?.  in  the  year  lS5o,  by 

LINDSAY  &  BLAKISTON, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for 

the  Eastern  District  of  PennFyl%-ania. 

6TERE0TYPED  BY  J.  FAGAN PRINTED   BY   C.  3UERM.VN    &   SOX. 


PREFACE. 


There  are  a  number  of  well-meaning 
persons  who  remain  out  of  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  Author  has  long  be- 
lieved that  this  is  owing,  not  to  a  lack  of 
sincere  interest  in  religion,  but  almost 
wholly  to  difficulties  which  present  them- 
selves to  sincere  inquirers  —  difficulties 
which  will  readily  vanish  when  properly 
considered.  To  such  honest-minded  per- 
sons, this  little  volume  affiictionately  offers 
its  aid. 

It  makes  no  abstruse  theological  preten- 

V  sions,  but  is  designed  to  meet  difficulties 

as    they   actual!}^  exist   in   the   minds   of 

men.     Its  object  is  wbolly  practical. 

(3) 


IV  PREFACE. 

This  Treatise,  in  the  former  pamphlet 
edition,  has  had  the  good  effect  of  con- 
vincing some,  and  of  persuading  them  to 
unite  with  the  Church.  Pastors  and 
Christian  friends  have  been  pleased  to 
say,  that  it  is  vrell  adapted,  in  its  style  and 
argument,  to  meet  an  existing  want.  At 
their  request,  it  has  been  revised  and  pub- 
lished again,  in  a  better  dress;  and  it  is 
devoutly  hoped  it  may  do  good. 

The  Author  would  yet  ask,  of  tbose 
into  whose  hands  this  little  Book  may  fall, 
as  a  special  favor,  that  they  will  be  so 
kind  as  to  lend  it  to  thinking  persons 
around  them,  who  are  yet  out  of  the 
Church. 

Lancaster,  Pa.,  November  16th,  1855. 


PAET    FIEST 


DIFFICULTIES    REMOVED, 


(5) 


PART    FIRST. 

DIFFICULTIES   REMOVED. 

Will  You  read  this  Little  Book? 

Introductory, 

I  TAKE  it  for  granted  ttiat  you,  who  are 
just  now  commencing  to  read  this  little 
book,  are  a  sincere  person.  You  desire  to 
do  right,  and  to  live  right.  You  believe 
in  the  Bible,  and  in  the  Christian  religion. 
You  often  meditate  seriously  on  your  pros- 
pects in  regard  to  the  eternal  world.  You 
desire  to  be  honest  and  faithful  with  your 
own  soul.  I  believe,  therefore,  that  you 
will  solemnly  and  candidly  weigh  the 
matter  to  which  I  desire  to  call  your  atten- 
tion. Though  I  have  never  seen  your 
face,  and  may  never  see  it  in  this  world, 

(7) 


8  INTRODUCTORY. 

yet  I  feel  an  interest  in  your  comfort  on 
earth,  and  in  your  salvation  in  heaven.  It 
is  this  which  impels  me  to  write  these 
things  to  you.  Friend !  please  read  this 
little  book. 

Have  you  ever  made  a  public  profession 
of  religion  ?  Do  you  belong  to  some 
branch  of  the  Christian  Church,  as  a 
regular  member  ?  If  you  do  not,  will  you 
listen  to  me,  while  I  endeavor  to  prove  to 
you,  that  it  is  your  duty,  and  the  duty  of 
all  men,  to  connect  themselves  in  a  regu- 
lar, public,  and  orderly  manner  with  the 
Church  of  Christ? 

You  have  no  doubt  often  thought  on 
this  subject;  and  perhaps  you  have  been 
more  or  less  troubled  in  regard  to  it.  It 
may  be  that  you  are  at  this  moment  unde- 
cided as  to  what  you  ought  to  do,  or  what 
you  will  do.  This  matter  may  have  rested 
upon  your  mind  for  years,  as  has  often 
been  the  case  with  others;   for  one  year 


INTRODUCTORY.  ',9 

hastens  fast  after  another,  and  ten  or 
twenty  years  of  our  life  are  quickly  left  be- 
hind, and  soon  old  age  and  death  threaten 
us.  There  is  nothing  that  we  are  so  apt 
to  put  off  as  coming  to  a  decision  on  some 
religious  matter.  I  once  knew  a  man 
whose  mind  had  been  seriously  exercised 
on  the  subject  of  his  duty  to  unite  with 
the  Church  for  fifteen  years  !  He  delayed 
the  solemn  decision  for  so  long  a  time.  If 
this  has  been  your  case,  I  hope  and  believe 
that  you  will  come  to  a  speedy  and  a  right 
decision,  if  you  will  read  on,  with  a  sin- 
cere desire  to  find  the  truth.  Even  if  you 
have  already  decided  never  to  join  the 
Church,  I  still  believe  you  will  change 
your  mind  when  you  carefully  consider  this 
subject  in  its  true  scriptural  light. 

I  can  easily  believe  that  you  have  de- 
layed thus  long  for  some  reason  which  you 
consider  a  good  one.  'No  one  acts  without 
reason,  unless  he  is  intentionally  wicked. 


IJ  INTRODUCTORY. 

Those  who  are  sincere  and  yet  neglect 
duty,  do  it  because  they  think  they  have 
found  some  reason  which  makes  it  proper 
for  them  so  to  do.  The  reason,  then,  why 
you  have  delayed,  is  because  there  is  in 
your  mind,  some  ground  which  you  con- 
sider good,  upon  which  3^ou  believe  your- 
self justifiable.  There  is  some  difficulty 
in  your  way.  When,  either  your  own 
mind,  or  some  person,  or  perhaps  the 
Bible,  urges  this  dut}^  upon  you,  you  meet 
the  plea  with  some  objections  or  difficulties 
by  which  you  excuse  yourself. 

Let  us  consider  these,  and  see  whether 
one  or  other  of  the  following  objections  do 
not  keep  you  back.  Let  us  see,  too, 
whether  they  cannot  be  satisfactorily  an- 
swered. 

Now,  I  earnestly  beg  you  not  to  lay  this 
little  book  aside,  but  to  read  on  with  an 
honest  desire  to  know  what  is  your  duty 
in  the  case.      It  is  a  subject  of  sufficient 


THE    FIRST    OBJECTION.  11 

solemnity  to  claim  your  most  serious  con- 
sideration. Shall  you  live  and  die  out  of 
Christ's  Church?  Oh!  what  momentous 
and  eternal  consequences  hang  upon  your 
decision  of  this  question  I 


I  DO    NOT    KNOW  WHICH    ChURCH   IS   RIGHT. 

The  First  Objection. 

Here  is  your  first  difficulty.  You  say : 
There  are  so  many  churches — which  is  the 
right  one,  and  which  one  shall  I  join  ? 

We  freely  confess  that  the  Church  is 
divided  into  many  parts,  and  we  mourn 
over  it.  It  is  a  great  evil ;  and  those  who 
are  the  means  of  dividing  it  are  certainly 
very  guilty  before  God.  Christ  instituted 
only  one  Church,  and  it  is  His  will  that 
there  should  he  but  one  fold,  as  there  is 
also  but  one  Shepherd — one  body,  as  there 
is  but  one  Head.    One  of  the  o-reatest  evils 


12  THE   FIRST    OBJECTION. 

which  result  from  the  division  of  the 
Church  is,  that  it  keeps  so  many  back 
from  joining  it.  Therefore,  to  such  as  aid 
in  causing  its  divisions,  the  solemn  words 
of  our  Saviour  must  be  applied :  "  "Wo 
unto  that  man  by  whom  the  offence 
cometh !" 

Grant,  then,  that  the  Church  is  divided, 
and  that  this  is  a  great  evil:  it  does  not 
destroy  it.  The  Church  still  exists ;  di- 
vided as  the  branches,  yet  still  one  as  the 
tree.  Any  one  who  reflects  charitably  and 
earnestly  on  this  subject,  must  confess  that 
the  Church  can  still  exist,  does  exist,  and 
is  still  one  Church,  under  all  these  divi- 
sions. 

We  will  endeavor  to  show  that  this  is 
the  case.  The  Scriptures  compare  the 
Church  to  a  human  body.  Christ  is  the 
head.  The  Church  is  the  hody.  We  are 
the  members  of  that  body.  ISTow,  though 
these  members   are  various  in  their  posi- 


THE    FIRST    OBJECTION.  13 

tions  and  uses,  they  are  still  all  pervaded 
by  one  life.  The  judgment  of  the  head, 
and  the  emotion  of  the  heart,  may  mani- 
fest themselves  variously  through  the  body 
and  its  members,  yet  the  life  of  it  is  but 
one  life.  There  may  be  various  weak- 
nesses and  defects  in  the  body  and  its 
members,  which  very  -much  hinder  it,  but 
do  not  destroy  its  life.  The  eye  may  see 
dimly,  the  ear  may  hear  faintly,  the  taste 
may  be  defective,  and  some  of  the  limbs 
may  be  feeble;  and  yet  all  these  do  not 
entirely  destroy  the  inner  life  of  the  man. 
They  deface  his  beauty,  enfeeble  his 
strength,  and  make  him  less  agreeable  to 
others,  but  still  he  is  a  man.  So  it  is  with 
the  Church ;  her  divisions  make  her  feeble, 
destroy  her  beauty,  and  hinder  her  effi- 
ciency, but  do  not  destroy  her  existence. 

Some  branches  of  the  Church  are  no 
doubt  less  pervaded  with  the  life  of  reli- 
gion than  others.     Some  are  more  in  error 


14  THE   FIRST   OBJECTION. 

than  others — and  this  will  also  make  some 
branches  better  than  others;  just  as  we 
sometimes  see  some  branches  of  a  fruit 
tree  less  fresh  and  growing  than  others. 
The  fruit,  on  those  branches  which  have 
least  sap  and  life,  will  not  be  so  good  and 
beautiful  and  perfect  as  it  is  on  others,  and 
yet  the  life  of  the  *tree  is  in  all,  more  or 
less.  Or,  comparing  the  Church  to  a  soil, 
into  which  we  are  planted,  and  in  which 
w^e  are  to  grow,  we  may  say,  that  plants  in 
some  soils  grow^  less  perfect  than  they  do 
in  others;  and  so  it  is  with  the  Church. 
Those  branches  of  it  which  hold  most 
truth,  which  are  nearest  in  all  things  to 
our  Saviour,  are  the  best — in  them  we  will 
flourish  most  as  Christians,  yet  we  cannot 
deny  that  there  may  also  be  persons 
planted  in  other  Christian  soil,  who  also 
grow  in  grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of 
Christ. 

The  Apostle  says  of  Christians,  "Ye 


THE   FIRST   OBJECTION.  15 

are  all  one  in  QliHst  Jesus.''  They  are  not, 
however,  all  One  in  every  respect.  It  is 
not  said  they  are  one  in  views — one  in  doc- 
trines—  one  in  their  ideas  of  Church  gov- 
ernment—  one  in  their  practices,  customs 
and  services  —  one  in  their  feelings  and 
experiences ;  but  they  are  one  in  a  deeper 
unity  than  any  of  these :  they  are  one  in 
the  life,  grace,  and  power  of  Christ  Jesus. 
All  that  are  His  children  in  deed  and  in 
truth,  are  in  Him — in  Him  they  exchange 
their  sympathies  in  true  charity,  and  in 
Him  they  form  ar  perfect  unity.  They  are 
in  Him  as  the  branches  are  in  the  vine — 
in  Him,  as  the  members  are  in  the  body — 
in  Him,  as  grafts  are  in  the  stem — in  Him, 
as  the  roots  of  plants  are  in  the  ground, 
"rooted  and  grounded  in  Him"  and  grow- 
ing up  in  Him  to  the  full  stature  of  men. 
Thus  it  is  easy  to  see  that  outwardly  they 
may  differ  in  many  respects,  yet  in  the  in- 


16  THE   FIRST    OBJECTION. 

ward,  deeper  life  and  power  of  religion, 
they  are  one  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Christians  may  differ  to  some  extent  in 
doctrines,  and  yet  be  Christians.  What  is 
a  doctrine  ?  The  doctrines  of  the  Scrip- 
tures which  I  hold,  are  the  doctrines  of 
the  Scripture  as  I  uiider stand  it.  But  I 
may  "see  only  in  part  and  know  in  part ;" 
or  I  may  see  in  a  wrong  light  in  some  re- 
spects. It  may  be  the  truth  which  I  see, 
and  yet  not  the  ivliole  truth,  or  not  exactly 
the  truth.  Another  sees  the  same  truth 
differently,  or  sees  more  of  it  than  I  do. 
That  is  Ms  doctrine.  Hence  you  see  that 
two  persons  may  hold  the  same  doctrine, 
and  yet  hold  it  in  some  respects  differently, 
The  views  of  persons  must  vary  as  their 
intelligence  varies.  We  may  easily  feel 
the  power  of  a  truth,  even  though  we  do 
not  see  the  whole  of  that  truth  in  all  its 
relations  and  dependencies ;  even  as  we 
may  feel  the  heat  of  the  fire  when  we  do 


THE   FIRST   OBJECTION.  17 

not  see  its  light.  Hence  we  are  taught 
''-above  all  tilings  to  put  on  charity."  Did 
not  even  the  Apostles  differ  in  some  points 
of  doctrine,  and  yet  they  were  all  Chris- 
tians ?  Actsl5:l— 2.  GaL2:ll.  Acts 
11 :  2-3.  Acts  15  :  36—41.  These  differ- 
ences were  about  minor  and  outward  mat- 
ters— they  could  not  see  alike;  but  was 
there  not  an  inward  unity,  which  still 
bound  them  to  each  other  and  to  Christ, 
notwithstanding  all  their  outward  differ- 
ences ? 

Christians  may  differ  even  in  the  manner 
in  which  divinely  appointed  ordinances  are 
to  he  used,  and  yet  be  one  in  Christ,  and 
all  in  His  Church.  There  may  be  a  great 
variety  of  administration,  without  losing 
the  substance  of  the  ordinance  itself.  In 
regard,  for  instance,  to  the  communion  of 
the  Lord's  supper,  the  most  solemn,  impor- 
tant and  interesting,  of  all  the  ordinances, 
there  may  be  outward  variety  where  the 
2* 


18  THE  FIRST   OBJECTION. 

life,  grace,  spirit,  and  intent  of  the  ordi- 
nance is  still  retained.  One  branch  of  the 
Church,  for  instance,  prefers  to  celebrate  it 
in  the  night,  and  attaches  to  it  the  ancient 
agapsa,  or  love-feast,  and  even  the  Paschal 
lanrib ;  others  lay  no  stress  on  any  of  these 
things.  One  receives  the  emblems  kneel- 
ing, another  standing,  and  still  another 
sitting.  One  uses  unleavened  bread,  an- 
other attaches  no  importance  to  this  mat- 
ter and  uses  leavened.  One  breaks  the 
bread,  from  a  loaf,  others  use  the  wafer. 
One  celebrates  it  monthly,  another  quar- 
terly, and  others  annually.  Any  one  who 
attends  the  celebration  of  this  blessed 
feast,  in  the  different  branches  of  the 
Church,  will  discover  variety  and  differ- 
ence in  great  detail,  in  the  outward  admin- 
istration ;  but  would  it  be  reasonable, 
would  it  be  charitable,  would  it  be  scrip- 
tural, to  say  that,  under  any  of  these 
forms,  it  is   not  the  Communion  ?     Cer- 


THE   FIRST   OBJECTION.  19 

tainly  not.  ''  ISTow  there  are  diversities  of 
gifts,  but  the  same  Spirit ;  and  there  are 
differences  of  administration,  but  the  same 
Lord ;  and  there  are  differences  of  opera- 
tions, but  it  is  the  same  God  which  work- 
eth  all  in  all"     1  Cor.  12  :  4—6. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  Sacrament 
of  Baptism.  There  is  a  great  variety  of 
administration  as  to  the  outward  rite. — 
One  prefers  one  mode,  and  another  prefers 
another ;  but  all  agree  that  it  is  to  be  done 
"with  water,"  and  "in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Who  will  say  that  the  real  substance  of  the 
sacrament  is  not  retained  under  all  this 
outward  variety  of  administration  ?  If  out- 
ward exactness  were  required,  in  all  par- 
ticulars and  details,  it  would  have  been  so 
revealed.  Just  as  in  the  Lord's  Supper, 
we  are  told  to  eat  bread  and  drink  w^ine, 
but  are  not  told  whether  we  shall  eat  much 
or  little,  whether  we  shall  do  it  sitting, 


20  THE   FIRST   OBJECTION. 

kneeling  or  standing,  whether  we  shall  do 
it  by  day  or  by  night;  so  in  baptisna,  it  is 
to  be  "with  water"  and  in  the  Triune 
name,  but  it  is  not  said  that  much  water  or 
little  shall  be  used ;  whether  the  person 
shall  kneel,  stand,  or"  sit ;  whether  it  shall 
be  applied  three  times  or  once. 

E"ow  we  freely  confess  that  such  outward 
forms  should  never  have  divided  the  Churchy 
and  those  who  divided  it  on  these  accounts 
are  guilty  before  God ;  yet  we  insist  upon 
it,  that  the  substance  of  these  ordinances 
may  be  retained  under  this  outward  variety. 
Hence  you  are  not  justifiable  in  remaining 
out  of  the  Church,  because  these  differences 
of  administration  exist. 

Christians  may  differ  also  in  their  views 
of  church  government,  and  yet  all  be  in  the 
Church,  under  all  these  forms.  The  very 
fact  that  Christians  differ  in  what  they  con- 
sider the  true  form  of  church-government, 
is  the  best  proof  that  no  particular  form  is 


THE    FIRST    OBJECTION.  21 

distinctly,  and  absolutely,  and  unchange- 
ably fixed  in  the  Scriptures.  That  govern- 
ment and  order  shall  exist  in  the  Church, 
is  clearly  revealed ;  and  this  all  admit ;  but 
what  shall  be  its  form,  in  all  its  details,  is 
not  revealed.  The  Church  is  not  con- 
structed like  a  house,  all  the  parts  of  which 
are  at  once  perfect  in  the  plan ;  but  it  is 
like  a  tree,  or  human  body,  a  living  organ- 
ism, which  perfects  its  parts  in  the  process 
of  its  own  growth  towards  perfection.  The 
life  of  the  plant  or  tree  remains  the  same, 
and  yet  its  outward  form  is  constantly 
changing.  The  Church  is  always  repre- 
sented as  such — a  living,  progressive  organ- 
ism. It  is  never  compared  in  the  Scrip- 
tures to  any  thing  that  has  not  life.  Even 
where  it  is  compared  to  a  house  or  temple, 
the  Apostle  violates  the  common  use  of 
metaphors,  in  order  to  make  it  living. 
Thus:  "Ye  also  as  lively  stones,  are  built 
up  a  spiritual  house."  1  Pet.  2  :  5.     And 


22  THE   HRST    OBJECTION. 

again  we  are  told  that  in  Christ  "  all  the 
building  fitly  framed  together,  groweth  unto 
an  holy  temple  in  the  Lord."  Eph.  2  :  21. 
Here  we  can  easily  see  that  the  Church,  as 
a  whole,  may  have  life  for  all,  and  carry 
power  with  her  to  govern,  and  yet  the  par- 
ticular mode  and  manner  of  government 
may  be  more  or  less  conditioned  by  circum- 
stances. Thus  the  history  of  the  Church 
is  like  a  tree,  whose  outward  shape  is  de- 
termined to  a  great  extent  from  the  place 
where  it  stands,  and  yet  the  inward  life  of 
the  tree  is  ever  the  same,  let  it  stand  where 
it  will,  and  let  its  shape  be  what  it  may. 
So  in  regard  to  the  Church.  It  is  in  this 
respect  in  the  Church  just  as  it  is  in  the 
State.  Civil  government  is  an  ordinance 
of  God ;  "  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained 
of  God."  It  is  not,  however,  the/orm  of 
government  which  is  divine,  but  the  'power 
by  which  this  form  is  to  be  animated. — 
Some  form  must  of  course  exist,  but  God 


THE   FIRST    OBJECTION.  23 

has  not  said  which.  The  form  may  be  an 
absolute  monarchy,  it  may  be  a  hmitecl 
monarchy,  it  may  be  an  aristocracy,  it  may 
be  republican,  democratic,  or  some  mixture 
of  any  number  of  these ;  and  yet,  under 
all  these  forms,  God  gives  to  the  regular 
officers  divine  right  to  govern,  administer 
laws,  reward  and  punish.  So  it  is  in  the 
Church.  The  form  may  be  Episcopal, 
Presbyterial,  Congregational,  or  some  mix- 
ture of  any  of  these ;  and  yet,  under  it, 
God  gives  the  right  to  rule  to  those  whom 
he  has  constituted  office-bearers  in  the 
Church.  We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  all 
these  forms  are  alike  good,  or  that  indi- 
vidual piety  will  flourish  equally  well  under 
all  of  them ;  but  we  w^ish  to  say  that  a 
p^i^son  may  be  a  real  Christian  under  any 
one  of  them ;  and  that  therefore  no  one 
has  a  just  excuse  in  remaining  out  of  the 
Church  because  of  this  diflference  and 
variety  of  form. 


24  THE   FIRST   OBJECTION. 

Christians  may  differ  also  m  tJicir  customs 
and  forms  of  service  in  worsMi:).  Some  may 
make  preaching  most  prominent;  others 
may  have  more  singing,  more  prayer. 
Some  may  be  more  formal,  others  more 
familiar  and  free.  Some  may  be  more 
quiet,  others  more  spirited.  Some  may  be 
more  plain  and  simple,  others  more  so- 
lemnly ceremonial.  Some  may  worship 
under  the  magnificent  Gothic  arch,  others 
in  a  farm-house,  school-house,  or  grove; 
and  yet  all  may  worship  Him  who  is  a  Spirit, 
in  spirit  and  in  truth.  Again  we  would 
not  say,  that  some  customs  and  modes 
of  service  are  not  better  adapted  to  the  true 
spirit  of  worship  than  others,  yet  we  de- 
voutly and  charitably  believe  that  among 
all  these  you  may  be  a  Christian.  It*  is 
therefore  your  duty  to  connect  3'ourself 
with  that  Church  which,  after  a  careful  and 
prayerful  examination,  you  believe  to  be 
nearest  right,  and  among  whom  you  believe 


THE   FIRST   OBJECTION.  25 

you  can  be  most  useful  to  the  world  and 
the  Church,  and  in  which  you  can  make 
the  best  advances  in  holiness.  Then  serve 
your  God  and  your  generation  in  humility 
and  love;  and  towards  all  others  put  on, 
"above  all  things,"  that  charity  which 
"beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things, 
hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things,  and 
which  never  faileth."  The  hull  is  not  as 
good  as  the  kernel,  and  the  bark  is  not  the 
tree,  therefore  despise  not  him  who  differs 
with  you  about  outward  things.  Cultivate 
a  deeper  and  more  inward  fellow^ship  with 
Him.  According  to  the  Apostle's  beautiful 
advice,  walk  with  Him  in  "all  lowliness 
and  meekness,  with  long-suffering,  forbear- 
ing one  another  in  love ;  endeavoring  to 
keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bonds 
of  peace."  Eph.  4  :  2 — 3.  Whenever  you 
are  tempted  to  narrow-hearted  bigotry,  call 
to  mind  the  example  of  the  Saviour.  "And 
John  answered  and  said,  Master,  we  saw 
3 


26  THE   FIRST   OBJECTION. 

one  casting  out  devils  in  thy  name ;  and 
we  forbade  him,  because  he  followeth  not 
with  us.  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Forbid 
him  not :  for  he  that  is  not  against  us,  is 
for  us."  Luke  9  :  49,  50.  Are  you  not 
convinced,  from  these  remarks,  that  though 
the  divisions  of  the  Church  are  an  evil, 
yet  they  do  not  destroy  the  Church  —  that 
it  still  exists  in  all  these  divers  branches  — 
that  it  is  still  one  in  its  deeper  life  and 
spirit,  although  some  of  its  branches  are 
more  living  than  others,  yet  in  any  one  of 
them,  which  you  believe  to  be  best,  you 
may  be  a  Christian  —  and  that  through  it 
you  may  be  connected  with  that  kingdom 
of  Christ  which  includes  all  saints,  and  out 
of  which  there  are  none  which  He  acknow- 
ledges as  his  subjects. 

If  you  still  persist  in  keeping  out  of  the 
Church  on  the  ground  of  this  excuse,  then 
permit  me  to  ask  whether  you  are  con- 
sistent with  your  own  views  in  this  respect. 


THE   FIRST   OBJECTION.  27 

Do  you  refuse  to  belong  to  a  government,  ( 
as  a  regular  citizen,  because  there  are  dif-  \ 
ferent  forms  of  government,  and  because  \ 
all  do  not  agree  as  to  which  is  the  best?    \ 
Do  you  refuse  to  stand  in  connection,  and     i 
to  act  in  concert,  with  a  political  party, 
because  there  are  other  parties  in  politics? 
Yea  perhaps  you  are  a  member  of  some 
benevolent  society,  though  there  are  many 
other  ones,  having  the  same,  or  at  least  a 
similar,  object  in  view.     You  hold  certain 
views  on  subjects,  though  others  hold  dif- 
ferent views  on  the  same  subjects.    You  do 
not  cease  the  business  in  which  you  are 
engaged,  because  others  do  the  same  busi- 
ness in  a  different  way.     You  perhaps  even 
hope  and  strive  in  a  certain  way  to  get  to 
heaven,  though  you  know  that  others  have 
different  views  on  the  same  matter;  why 
then  do  you  refuse  to  join  some  branch  of 
the  Church,  because  there  are  others  who 
differ,  and  choose  to  serve  God  in  a  way 


28  THE   FIRST   OBJECTION. 

that  is  not  outwardly  the  same  in  every 
respect?  Certainly  this  is  not  consistent 
— it  is  not  a  reasonable  course  of  conduct. 
If  we  would  do  nothing  till  all  would  agree 
as  to  hoiv  it  should  be  done,  we  would  do 
little  indeed.  —  We  verily  believe  that,  if 
you  w^ill  carefully  consider  the  matter  in 
this  light,  you  will  be  convinced  that,  to 
keep  out  of  the  Church  because  it  is  divided 
into  different  branches,  is  to  do  so  without 
good  reason. 

You  can  certainly  find  one  or  the  other 
of  these  branches  of  the  Church  near 
enough  to  what  you  believe  right,  accord- 
ing to  the  Scriptures,  to  permit  fellowship 
with  them.  Use  your  judgment  prayer- 
fully, and  then  join  in  with  some  branch 
of  Christ's  kingdom  on  earth. 


the  second  objection.  29 

There  are  so  many  unworthy  Professors. 
The  Second  Objection. 

There  are  so  many  bad  professors  of  re- 
ligion. There  are  so  maDj  belonging  to 
the  Church  who  are  not  fit  to  belong  to  it. 
There  are  many  in  the  Church  who  would 
better  be  out  of  it.  Many  make  a  loud 
profession,  take  the  communion,  and  pre- 
tend to  be  religious  in  the  Church  and  on 
the  Sabbath,  who  are  worse  than  I  am. 

In  some  such  form  as  this,  an  objection 
is  expressed,  and  an  excuse  made,  which  is 
very  common — perhaps  more  common  than 
any  other.  You  will  certainly  read  on, 
while  we  examine  this  excuse ;  and  if  you 
see  that  it  affords  no  good  reason  for  your 
remaining  out  of  the  Church,  you  will  cast 
it  away. 

First  of  all,  then,  we  fully  and  freely 
confess  that  what  you  say  is  so.  We  make 
3* 


30  THE    SECOND    OBJECTION. 

this  confession  sadly,  and  in  deep  humilia- 
tion. We  lament  sincerely  that  it  is  trne. 
AVe  believe  also  that  this  is  one  of  the 
greatest  evils  which  afflict  the  Church.  An 
enemy  within  can  always  do  more  injury 
than  an  enemy  without.  The  very  fact 
that  it  is  the  cause  of  keeping  so  many 
persons  back  from  making  a  profession  of 
religion,  is  one  of  the  strongest  proofs  that 
it  is  a  great  evil.  It  is  to  those  who  are  in 
the  Church  in  form,  but  out  of  it  in  heart 
and  life,  that  the  Saviour's  cutting  reproof 
is  administered  :  "Ye  shut  up  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  against  men :  for  je  neither  go 
in  yourselves,  neither  suffer  ye  them  that 
are  entering,  to  go  in." — Matt.  23:13. 
Such  persons  are  in  very  truth  offences  or 
stumbling-blocks — for  this  is  the  scripture 
meaning  of  the  word  offences — over  which 
many  of  the  world  stumble  into  perdition, 
who,  had  not  these  been  in  their  way, 
would  have  entered  the  kingdom.     Hence 


THE    SECOND    OBJECTION.  31 

the  Saviour  says,  "Wo  unto  the  world  be- 
cause of  ofiences!"  It  is  the  world,  those 
who  are  in  the  world,  that  receive  injury 
from  such  professors ;  because  they  are 
kept  out  of  the  Church  by  their  unworthy 
conduct.  '•  It  must  need  be  that  offences 
come."  In  the  present  state  of  the  world, 
so  full  of  evil  men,  it  must  need  be  that  in 
some  instances  men  of  wicked  hearts  will 
find  their  way  into  the  Church,  to  the  dis- 
grace of  religion  —  "  But  wo  to  that  man 
hy  whom  the  offence  cometh."  What  the 
weight  is  of  this  wo  —  the  Saviour's  w^o  — 
the  "  wrath  of  the  Lamb"  — will  be  found 
out  by  actual  experience,  when  God  shall 
judge  them  in  that  great  day  which  will 
reveal  the  secrets  of  the  hearts  of  men. 
How  awful  to  perish  as  members  of  the 
Church  !  How  awful  from  the  very  gate 
of  Heaven  to  be  cast  down  to  hell  I 

Having  now  fully  agreed  with  you  that 
there  are  those  in  the  Church  who  are  a 


32  THE   SECOND    OBJECTION. 

disgrace  to  it,  and  who  are  very  guilty  in 
the  sight  of  God  on  that  account,  we  must 
still  differ  with  you  when  you  make  this  an 
excuse  for  remaining  out  of  it.     For — 

1.  You  will  agree  that  they  are  not  all 
such  who  are  members  of  the  Church. 
While  I  agree  with  you  that  there  are 
many  bad  professors,  you  will  agree  with 
me,  that  there  are  many  good  ones.  This 
cannot  be  denied.  We  will  venture  to  say 
that  you  can  point  out  many  among  your 
acquaintances  whom  you  believe  to  be  sin- 
cere, humble,  devoted  Christians — such  as 
live  up  to  their  professions,  as  far  as  it  is 
possible  for  them  to  do  in  a  world  so  full  of 
temptation  and  evil,  and  w^ho  show  them- 
selves, in  heart  and  life,  as  "Israehtes 
indeed."  You  know  some  aged  members 
of  the  Church,  who  have  spent  a  long  and 
steady  life  in  devout  service  of  God  and 
man  ;  of  whom  you  will  be  constrained  to 
say,  as  they  sink  into  the  grave,  that  good 


THE    SECOND   OBJECTION.  33 

men  have  fallen.  You  can  also  fix  your 
mind  on  some  among  your  acquaintances 
in  middle  life,  who  are  devoting  the  full 
strength  of  manhood  to  God,  in  connection 
with  the  Church.  You  even  know  some 
in  the  bloom  of  youth,  who  have  set  aside 
youthful  follies,  and  who  are  laying  upon 
the  altar  of  Christ,  the  first  and  warmest 
affections  of  their  life,  and  w^ho  most  de- 
voutly and  sincerely  do  "  remember  their 
Creator  in  the  days  of  their  youth."  You 
must  confess  that  this  is  so.  Is  it  not  more 
reasonable  then,  and  much  wiser,  to  imitate 
the  examples  of  these,  than  to  stumble  at 
those  who  are  unworthy,  to  the  eternal  in- 
jury of  your  own  soul  ?  It  will  do  you  no 
good,  in  the  day  of  Judgment,  to  say  that 
there  were  hypocrites  in  the  Church.  The 
question  will  be,  are  you  among  the  good  ? 
It  will  be  no  comfort  to  be  excluded  from 
the  heavenly  kingdom  ourselves,  even  if 
half  of  those  in  the  Church  shall  meet  the 


34  THE   SECOND   OBJECTION. 

same  fate.  It  is  our  duty  to  be,  and  to  do, 
like  the  good  in  the  Church,  and  not  hke 
the  unworthy.  If  there  are  only  a  few 
that  are  on  the  narrow  way,  let  us  see  to  it 
that  we  are  among  that  number. 

The  very  fact  that  there  are  so  many 
who  only  say  Lord,  Lord,  while  they  do 
not  the  will  of  our  Father  who  is  in  hea- 
ven, makes  it  only  the  more  necessary  for 
others  to  profess  religion  in  the  right  way. 
If  many  disgrace  religion  by  a  bad  profes- 
sion, so  much  more  important  is  it  for  you 
and  I  to  honor  it  by  a  good  one.  God 
and  His  truth  need  true  witnesses  before 
men,  and  if  these  witnesses  are  few,  are 
not  we  so  much  the  more  called  to  stand 
out  and  witness  for  God  and  religion  by  a 
faithful  and  sincere  profession  ?  If  the 
country  is  in  danger,  and  there  are  many 
traitors  among  those  who  are  set  for  its 
defence,  then  it  is  the  more  our  duty  to  fall 
into  the  ranks  as  true  men. 


THE   SECOND    OBJECTION.  35 

2.  You  demand  too  much,  in  asking 
that  the  Church  shall  be  free  from  all  un- 
worthy professors.  If  you  stand  on  that 
ground,  you  would  not  have  joined  Christ 
while  he  was  on  earth ;  nor  would  you 
have  joined  any  of  the  Churches  which  the 
Apostles  established,  and  to  which  they 
ministered.  You  know  that  there  was 
one  among  the  twelve,  who  betrayed  him, 
who  was  a  '-thief,"  a  ^son  of  perdition," 
one  for  whom  it  had  been  "better  if  he 
had  never  been  born."  There  was  another 
among  them,  who  denied  him  three  times, 
and  with  "cursing  and  swearing."  But 
this  did  not  injure  the  rest  of  the  disciples. 
They  did  not  stand  away  from  Christ  on 
that  account.  They,  though  they  were  in 
such  company  by  profession,  were  never- 
theless as  good  men  as  ever  lived.  Christ, 
who  knew  their  hearts  —  for  He  "knew 
what  was  in  man," — walked  in  their  com- 
pany, and  He  was  not  polluted  by  them. 


36  THE   SECOND   OBJECTION. 

How  then  can  you  sincerely  say,  that  it  is 
a  good  excuse  for  you  not  to  join  the 
Church,  because  there  are  now  and  then 
those  who  betray  and  deny  Christ  ?  IS'o  ; 
the  more  false  friends  He  has,  the  more 
reason  is  there  why  we  should  cleave  to 
Him  as  true  friends. 

We  find  that  in  the  apostolic  Churches 
there  were  professors  who  disgraced  their 
profession.  Let  any  one  read  the  Epistles, 
and  he  will  find  many  allusions  to  persons 
who  endeavored  to  hide  the  worst  of 
crimes  under  the  cloak  of  an  outward  pro- 
fession of  religion.  At  Eome  there  were 
those  to  whom  Paul  says  :  "  The  name  of 
God  is  blasphemed  among  the  gentiles 
through  you."  Eom.  2,  24.  In  the 
Church  of  Corinth  there  was  one  who  was 
guilty  of  a  crime  that  ''  is  not  so  much  as 
named  even  among  the  Gentiles."  1  Cor. 
5,  1.  In  the  same  Church,  while  they  met 
to  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  they  ran 


THE    SECOND    OBJECTION.  37 

into  sucTi  extravagant  excesses  that  the 
Apostle  charges  them  with  turning  this 
solemn  ordinance  into  a  feast  of  gluttony 
and  drunkenness.  "  One  is  hungry  and 
another  is  drunken.  What !  have  ye  not 
houses  to  eat  and  drink  in  ?  or  despise  ya 
the  Church  of  God  !"  1  Cor.  11,  21-22. 
He  also  warns  them  against  eating  and 
drinking  at  the  Lord's  Supper  unworthily, 
and  plainly  declares  that  some  of  them  did 
so.  "  For  this  cause  many  are  weak  and 
sickly  among  you^  and  many  sleep."  v.  30. 
To  the  Philippian  Church  he  writes  in  sad- 
ness, thus  :  "  For  many  walk  (that  is  with 
Christians  by  profession,)  of  whom  I  have 
told  you  often,  and  now  tell  you  even 
weeping,  that  they  are  the  enemies  of  the 
Cross  of  Christ."     Phil.  3,  18. 

When   these   unworthy  professors  were 

guilty   of    open   and   public   crimes,  they 

were  expelled  from  the  Church.     This  was 

the   duty   of   the    proper  officers   of   the 

4 


38  THE   SECOND   OBJECTION. 

Church;  and  it  is  still  their  duty.  Per- 
haps you  say,  they  do  not  perform  this 
duty.  If  they  do  not  perform  their  duty, 
that  is  their  sin,  and  not  yours.  If  these 
unworthy  professors  are  outwardly  regular, 
so  that  the  discipline  of  the  Church  cannot 
take  hold  of  them,  though  they  are  in- 
wardly hypocrites,  then  they  come  under 
the  Saviour's  rule  in  the  parahle  of  the 
tares  and  wheat :  "  Let  hoth  grow  together 
until  the  harvest."  If  we  are  only  wheat, 
all  will  be  right,  even  though  we  stand 
among  tares. 

It  is  very  plain,  then,  to  any  reasonable 
person,  that  there  were  unworthy  profes- 
sors in  the  Church  in  the  time  of  Christ, 
as  well  as  in  the  apostolic  Churches ;  but 
at  the  same  time  there  were  also  good 
Christians  among  them.  "We  do  not  hear 
that  any  persons  refused,  in  that  day,  to 
join  them  on  this  account.  The  Church 
will  exist,  no  doubt,  to  the  end,  as  mixed — 


THE   SECOND   OBJECTION.  39 

there  will  no  doubt  be  tares  among  the 
wheat  at  the  dreadful  hour  when  the  last 
trumpet  shall  sound,  and  when  God  shall 
send  forth  the  final  reapers  !  Matt.  7,  22, 
23. 

What  if  we  are  in  the  Church  among 
Judases,  and  "  such  as  have  a  form  of  god- 
liness but  deny  the  powder?"  Our  own 
example,  if  it  is  of  the  right  kind,  will 
only  be  the  more  impi*essive  to  others, 
even  as  stars  shine  more  brightly  the 
darker  the  night.  The  real  beauty  of  a 
consistent  religious  life  will  be  the  better 
seen  in  us,  in  contrast  with  their  evil 
works.  In  this  way  the  wrath  of  man  will 
be  made  to  praise  God,  and  it  will  be  seen 
that  He  in  infinite  wisdom  is 

"  From  seeming  evil  still  educing  good." 

"  For  there  must  be  al^o  heresies  among 
you,  that  they  which  are  approved  may  be 
made  manifest  among  you."     In  this  view 


40  THE   SECOND   OBJECTION. 

how  beautiful  is  the  exhortation  of  the 
Apostle  to  you  and  to  me :  "  Be  blameless 
and  harmless,  the  sons  of  God,  without 
rebuke,  in  the  midst  of  a  crooked  and  per- 
verse nation,  among  whom  ye  shine  as 
lights  in  the  road."  Phil.  2,  5.  O  let  us 
seek  to  do  this,  let  others  do  as  they  will. 

3.  We  must  not  too  uncharitably  judge 
those  who  are  professors  of  religion.  We 
must  not  entirely  condemn  them  because 
we  discern  imperfections  and  weaknesses 
in  their  life  and  conduct.  Lord,  are  we 
not  all  dust  and  ashes?  Who  will  cast 
the  lirst  stone  at  his  erring  brother?  Alas! 
who  art  thou  that  judgest  another  so 
rashly  —  so  severely  ?  Oh  !  how  beautiful 
is  the  prayer 

"  The  mercy  I  to  others  show — 
Thai  mercy  show  to  me." 

We  would  not,  in  any  degree,  justify 
the  failings  of  Church  members;  but  we 
must  ask  in  reason  and  in  charity,  that 


THE   SECOND   OBJECTION.  41 

they  be  not  absolutely  condemned  as  grace- 
less children  of  Satan,  except  by  one  who 
is  himself  perfect.  If  this  course  is  pur- 
sued, we  feel  sure  that  many,  who  are  now 
so  harsh  in  judgment,  would  silently  with- 
draw without  pronouncing  condemnation, 
and  the  "weak  brethren,"  who  have  fallen 
into  sin  would  be  left  alone  with  the  Sa- 
viour: who  would  say  to  them,  "neither 
do  I  condemn  thee:  depart,  and  sin  no 
more !" 

In  judging  professing  Christians,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  their  faults  and  fail- 
ings are  generally  outward  and  public — 
they  are  seen  on  that  side  of  their  lives  by 
which  they  come  in  contact  with  the  rough 
and  bewitching  world — but  their  penitence 
is  generally  in  secret.  You  see  the  incon- 
sistency of  a  public  act  of  wrong  in  them, 
which  was  perhaps  committed  in  circum- 
stances of  peculiar  trial  and  temptation, 
but  you  do  not  see  thie  tears  of  penitence 
4* 


42  THE   SECOND   OBJECTION. 

which  that  same  person  sheds  over  his 
faults  in  secret.  Your  eyes  are  not  upon 
him  when  in  the  sohtude  of  the  night  he 
bemoans  his  faihngs,  "makes  his  bed  to 
swim,"  and  "waters  his  couch  with  his 
tears  !"  l^o,  you  see  him  not  in  his  closet, 
when  he  has  "shut  to  the  door;"  and 
when,  in  bitter  confession  and  penitence, 
he  asks  his  "Father  which  seeth  in  secret" 
to  pardon  his  offences !  Thus,  because  you 
see  only  the  outside,  and  that  the  worst 
side  of  his  character,  while  the  best  is  hid, 
you  may  do  him  wrong  in  judging  him  too 
severely.  Condemn  him  not  as  a  graceless 
man  for  a  few  outward  acts  of  inconsis- 
tency, till  you  are  quite  sure  that  he  does 
not  mourn  over  them  in  secret,  and  pray 
for  forgiveness  to  that  Saviour  with  whom 
is  forgiveness,  and  who,  when  he  was 
asked  how  often  we  should  forgive  our 
brother,  said :  "  I  say  not  unto  thee,  until 
seven    times :    but,    until    seventy    times 


THE    SECOND    OBJECTION.  43 

seven."    Matt.  18  :  22.    See  also  Luke  IT: 
3-4. 

There  are  great  mistakes  made  in 
judging  others,  by  not  keeping  this  fact  in 
view.  There  are  many,  for  instance,  who 
blame  David  for  his  great  sin,  and  they  do 
so  rightly ;  but  they  are  not  so  ready  to 
give  him  credit  for  his  sincere  and  humble 
confession  of  it,  and  for  the  deep  penitence 
in  which  he  turned  to  God  for  forgiveness 
in  the  51st  Psalm.  So  there  are  many 
who  stumble  at  the  errors  of  professors, 
and  make  it  an  excuse  for  remainino^  out 
of  the  Church,  but  never  think  of  the 
"  strong  crying  and  tears,"  with  w^hich  in 
secret  they  mourn  over  the  wound  which 
they  have  inflicted  upon  their  own  souls, 
and  upon  the  cause  of  Christ.  Is  this  just 
and  right?  Oh  let  us  judge  in  charity, 
even  of  outward  acts;  and  what  is  inward, 
let  us  leave  that  to  Him  "who  searcheth 
the  hearts  and  trieth  the  reins  of  the  child- 
ren of  men,"  and  before  whom  "all  things 


44  THE   SECOND   OBJECTION. 

are  naked  and  open."  Above  all,  let  us 
not  neglect  our  own  souls,  and  our  own 
duties,  because  others  are  doing  so. 

4.  You  do  not  join  the  Church  because 
there  are  so  many  bad  and  unworthy  pro- 
fessors in  it,  but  you  do  not  act  on  this 
principle  in  other  respects.  Now,  there 
are  traitors  in  the  nation  —  persons  who 
break  the  laws,  and  who  are  unworthy  of 
being  called  citizens  ;  and  when  even  they 
are  not  guilty  of  acts  which  deprive  them 
of  citizenship,  they  are  nevertheless  bad 
citizens,  and  a  disgrace  to  the  nation  :  and 
yet  you  do  not,  on  this  account,  refuse  to 
become  a  citizen — you  do  not  refuse  to  be- 
long to  the  nation,  to  place  yourself  under 
its  laws,  and  to  enjoy  the  privileges  which 
it  confers  upon  its  worthy  citizens,  because 
there  are  traitors  and  unworthy  citizens 
living  in  this  great  Republic. 

There  is  much  counterfeit  money  and 
much  bad  money  afloat,  but  you  do  not  on 
that  account  despise  all  money,  count  it  an 


THE   SECOND    OBiECTIOX.  45 

evil  thiug  in  itself,  and  refuse  to  take  that 
which  is  good. 

Science  has  its  blemishes,  its  defects,  and 
there  are  many  who  disgrace  it,  by  abnse 
in  using  it  for  unworthy  purposes;  and  yet 
you  do  not,  on  that  account,  consider  know- 
ledge a  bad  thing  in  itself,  and  refuse 
fellowship  with  those  who  are  honoring  it 
with  their  love  and  devotion,  and  who  are 
united  for  its  promotion  in  the  world. 

Many  families  have  bad  and  unworthy 
members — members  who  destroy  its  peace 
and  comfort  within,  and  who  disgrace  it 
before  others;  but  you  do  not  for  that 
reason  consider  the  family  as  evil,  and 
refuse  to  make  one  in  the  family  circle,  and 
in  the  communion  of  domestic  love. 
•  "Wheat,  and  all  grain,  has  its  tares,  its 
defective  growths,  and  its  injurious  mix- 
tures in  many  ways;  but  you  do  not  there- 
fore consider  grain-growing  an  evil  thing 
—  you  do  not  cease  to  sow;  and  though 


46  THE   SECOND   OBJECTION. 

there  are  many  farmers  who  are  unworthy 
of  that  name,  and  who  are  a  disgrace 
to  the  business,  you  are  not,  therefore, 
ashamed  to  be  called  by  that  name,  and 
induced  to  desist  from  your  regular  pursuit 
of  that  business. 

Are  not  these  illustrations  sufficient  to 
prove  that  in  refusing  to  rank  yourself 
among  the  professors  of  religion  because 
there  are  bad  members  in  the  Church,  you 
do  not  act  consistently — you  do  not  act  on 
this  principle  in  other  things.  It  would  be 
foolish  if  you  did.  Is  it  not  plain,  then, 
that  an  evil  spirit,  and  perhaps  an  evil 
heart,  are  deceiving  you  in  persuading  you 
to  lean,  with  the  eternal  interests  of  your 
soul,  upon  an  excuse  which,  even  in  an 
earthly  point  of  view,  is  not  only  baseless* 
but  absolutely  foolish.  Oh  !  consider  these 
things  solemnly,  and  in  the  light  of  eter- 
nity. What  will  it  profit  a  man  if  he  lose 
his  own  soul,  even  if  ten  thousand  profes- 
sors of  religion  do  the  same  ? 


THE   THIRD    OBJECTION.  47 

You  see  that  this  objection  to  joioiDg 
the  Church,  has  no  solid  ground.  As  one 
who  sincerely  seeks  the  truth,  you  are 
bound  to  cast  it  forever  away. 


Religion  does  not  consist  in  Outward 
Forms. 

The  Third  Objection. 

Some  say,  by  way  of  excuse,  that  reli- 
gion does  not  consist  in  outward  forms, 
but  in  dispositions  of  the  heart ;  and  that 
therefore  we  can  be  just  as  good  out  of  the 
Church  as  in  it. 

Here  again  we  fully  agree  that  religion 
does  not  consist  in  outward  forms — that  the 
mere  form  of  belonging  to  the  Church, 
does  not  make  us  Christians,  and  that  piety 
must  dwell  in  the  heart  in  all  holy  dispo- 


48  THE   THIRD   OBJECTION. 

sitions  and  affections.  But  if  you  say  that 
it  is  an  excuse  to  remain  out  of  the  Church 
because  religion  does  not  consist  in  out- 
ward forms,  and  that  we  can  be  as  good 
out  of  the  Church  as  in  it,  then  I  must 
differ  with  jou,  and  give  you  my  reasons ; 
and  let  me  here  again  express  the  belief 
that,  as  an  honest  man,  you  will  agree  with 
me  when  you  have  given  the  matter  a 
serious  consideration. 

First  of  all,  then,  I  must  say,  that  to 
belong  to  a  Church  is  not  merely  a  form. 
The  ordinances  of  the  Church  are  not  mere 
forms.  God,  who  has  instituted  them,  is 
no  formalist.  lie  does  not  mock  ms,  by 
calling  us  to  engage  in  empty  ceremonies. 
These  forms  are  designed  as  means  to  bj^jing 
us  near  to  God.  Through  these  forms  He 
meets  us  and  we  meet  Him.  He  is  in 
these  forms  with  His  Spirit  and  His  grace. 
They  are  His  own  transactions  with  men  ; 
and  whenever  we   draw  nigh   unto   Him 


^» 


THE    THIED    OBJECTION.  49 

through  them,  He  draws  nigb  to  us  in  tbein. 
It  is  therefore  wicked  to  say  that  what  God 
has  appointed  as  means  and  media  of  com- 
munication wdth  Him  are  mere  outward 
forms.  True,  we  can  use  them  as  mere 
forms,  as  too  many  do,  but  that  is  not  their 
design ;  and,  if  w^e  use  them  rightly,  they 
are  more  than  forms  to  us. 

Again :  Those  holy  dispositions  and  af- 
fections of  heart  which  make  us  acceptable 
to  God  are  to  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  the 
ordinanc-es  of  the  Church  as  means.  It  is 
God's  order  to  give  grace  into  our  hearts 
in  a  certain  w^ay,  and  that  way  he  has  pre- 
scribea  to  us  —  this  way  requires  us  to  use 
certain  means.  When  we  eat,  for  instance, 
we  get  strong  ;  but  it  is  not  the  mere  form 
of  eating  which  gives  us  strength,  it  is  the 
food  which  incorporates  itself  wdth  our  sys- 
tem, that  replenishes -our  strength;  and 
yet  the  form  of  eating  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary as  a  means.  So  it  is  in  the  use  of  the 
5 


50  THE    THIRD   OBJECTION* 

means  of  grace  ;  it  is  not  tlie  outward  form 
which  gives  us  grace,  but  it  is  through  the 
use  of  it  that  God  transmits  grace  into  our 
souls.  When  Naaman  was  sent  to  wash 
himself  seven  times  in  the  Jordan,  that  he 
might  be  healed  of  his  leprosy,  it  was  not 
the  form  of  washing  which  was  to  cure 
him,  but  he  was  to  be  cured  in  the  use  of 
this  means  —  and  he  w^as  not  cured  till  he 
did  it.  He  thought  the  waters  of  Damas- 
cus might  do  just  as  well,  but  that  was  his 
way,  not  God's.  So  we  may  think  that 
we  can  do  just  as  well  out  of  the  Church, 
but  that  is  our  way  and  not  God's.  See 
n.  Kings,  5. 

The  inward  and  outward  in  religion,  are 
bound  together,  and  God  sustains  the  one 
by  the  other.  The  spirit  needs  the  form, 
and  the  form  needs  the  spirit.  If  the  spirit 
is  not  there,  the  forhi  is  dead ;  and  if  the 
form  is  not  used,  the  spirit  departs.  This 
truth  can  be  seen  everywhere.     Everything 


THE    THIRD    OBJECTION.  51 

that  lives  on  earth  has  both  form  and  spirit. 
The  tree  has  an  unseen  hidden  hfe,  but 
also  an  outward  form.  The  limbs  and  the 
bark  are  not  the  tree ;  for  without  the  in- 
ward life  they  would  be  dead;  but  it  is 
equally  true  that  the  inward  life  could  not 
exist  if  it  were  not  for  the  outv/ard  form — 
the  bark  and  the  limbs ;  take  these  away, 
and  the  life  will  soon  withdraw.  InTow  so 
it  is  in  religion  ;  forms  are  not  religion,  but 
they  are  the  outward  signs  of  it,  and  they  are 
necessary  to  it.  If  we  take  them  away, 
the  life  and  spirit  of  religion  will  not  stay ; 
no  more  than  the  life  of  a  tree  will  remain 
in  it  when  the  bark  and  the  limbs  are  taken 
away.  "Who  is  he  that  would  be  wiser 
than  God  ?  "When  He  institutes  forms  and 
ordinances  to  bring  us  near  to  Him,  who 
is  he  that  says,  we  can  be  just  as  pious  and 
acceptable  to  God  without  them  ?  You 
will  certainly  yield  this  point. 


52  THE   FOURTH   OBJECTION. 

I   FEAR   I   COULD   NOT   KeEP   MY   YOWS. 

The  Fourth  Objection. 

You  say  you  would  join  the  Church,  but 
you  have  seen  many  join  that  have  not 
lived  up  to  their  vows,  and  you  fear  it 
might  be  the  case  with  you ;  and  in  this 
way  you  think  you  would  commit  more 
sin  than  by  not  joining  at  all. 

We  agree  with  you  fully  that  it  is  a 
great  sin  to  profess,  and  then  not  live  up 
to  our  professions  and  promises.  "  Better 
is  it  that  thou  shouldst  not  vow,  tlian  that 
thou  shouldst  vow  and  not  pay."  Eccl.  5  : 
5.  It  is  certainly  a  good  precept  which 
Solomon  gives:  ^'Be  not  rash  with  thy 
mouth,  and  let  not  thine  heart  be  hasty  to 
utter  anything  before  God."  It  is,  how- 
ever, not  necessary  that  you  should  be  rash 
in  your  promises ;    neither  is  it  necessary 


THE   FOUETII   OBJECTION.  53 

that  you  should  vow  and  not  pay.  "We 
are  not  to  do  like  those  who  thus  vow; 
but  we  are  to  make  a  dehberate  profession, 
and  then  honor  it  by  a  holy  walk ;  and  for 
this  God  has  pledged  us  His  grace. 

It  is,  moreover,  certain  that  your  remain- 
ing out  of  the  Church  does  not  increase 
your  fitness;  but  every  year  lessens  it. 
You  are  not  to  become  holy  and  fit  for 
heaven  out  of  the  Church,  and  then  enter 
it  merely  for  safe-keeping ;  but  you  are  to 
enter  it,  that  you  may  have  access  to  those 
means  of  grace,  and  use  those  helps,  by 
which  you  are  to  grow  in  grace.  The 
Church,  it  has  been  well  said,  is  not  like  a 
barn  into  which  ripe  sheaves  are  to  be 
gathered,  but  it  is  like  a  garden  in  which 
plants  are  to  be  cultivated.  On  first  enter- 
ing the  Church  you  will,  of  course,  be 
weak  in  faith,  mere  babes  in  Christ ;  and 
there  will  be  faintings  and  failings,  and 
5* 


54  THE   FOURTH    OBJECTION. 

stumblings ;  but  these  will  gradually  give 
way  to  strength  and  firmness.  We  have 
the  promises  of  God  to  sustain  us.  In 
His  house  is  bread  from  heaven,  to 
strengthen  us,  and  water  'of  life  to  refresh 
us.  "  They  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall 
renew  their  strength."  20  :  40,  31.  As 
children,  they  will  find  in  their  Father's 
house  protection,  food,  and  encourage- 
ment. "  Those  that  be  planted  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  shaM  flourish  in  the 
courts  of  our  God."  Ps.  92  :1  3.  Out  of 
the  Church  we  are  "  without  Christ,  being 
aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel, 
and  strangers  from  the  covenants  of 
promise,  having  no  hope,  and  without 
God  in  the  world."  As  long  as  you  are 
out  of  the  Church,  you  are  out  of  cove- 
nant with  God,  "aliens  and  strangers," 
and  have  no  claim  upon  His  blessings ; 
and  how,  in  that  case,  can  you  expect  to 
have  His  favor;  but  in  His  Church,  you 


THE   FOURTH   OBJECTION.  55 

are  entitled  to  all  that  He  has  promised  to 
those  who  are  iu  covenant  with  Him.  In 
the  Church,  you  are  regarded  as  members 
of  His  family,  "children  and  heirs."  Xow 
you  have  a  right  to  hope,  for  He  says  to 
us :  "  K"ow,  therefore,  ye  are  no  more 
strangers  and  foreigners,  but  fellow-citizens 
with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of 
God  ;  and  are  built  upon  the  foundation 
of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ 
Himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone  ;  in 
whom  all  the  building  fitly  framed  to- 
gether groweth  anto  an  holy  temple,  in  the 
Lord;  in  whom  ye  also  are  builded  to- 
gether, for  a  habitation  of  God  through 
the  Spirit."  Eph.  2  :  19-22.  In  such  like 
assurances  rests-  your  hope  —  assurances 
which  you  only  have  in  the  Church. 

That  you  shall  come  short  in  some 
things,  through  weakness,  is  almost  cer- 
tain. The  holiest  men  of  whom  we  read 
in  the  sacred   Scriptures,  were  sometimes 


66  THE   FOURTH   OBJECTION. 

drawn  into  evil  by  the  power  of  tempta- 
tion, and  the  strength  of  their  own  remain- 
ing infirmities.  Even  Paul  was  sometimes 
ensnared  bj  the  law  in  his  members,  which 
warred  against  the  law  in  his  mind:  so 
that  the  evil  which  he  would  not,  that  he 
did.  But  God  is  merciful  to  the  w^eak- 
nesses  of  such  as  sincerely  endeavor  to  be 
His.  "  We  have  not  an  High-priest  which 
cannot  be  touched  w^ith  a  feeling  of  our 
infirmities."  Heb.  4  :  15.  He  will  not 
cast  us  off  for  the  first  offence,  when  it  is 
committed  through  weakness.  "For  as 
the  heaven  is  high  above  the  earth,  so 
great  is  His  mercy  toward  them  that  fear 
Him.  He  knoweth  our  frame  :  He  remem- 
bereth  that  we  are  dust."  Ps.  103  :  11,  14. 
"If  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate 
wdth  the  Father  —  Jesus  Christ,  the 
righteous ;  and  He  is  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins."     1  John,  ^  :  1. 

From  these  remarks  you  will  see  that 


THE   FOURTH   OBJECTION.  5T 

the  Churcli  insures  and  promises  us  the 
ueeded  grace,  whereby  we  may  go  on  from 
strength  to  strength.  It  is  designed  and 
adapted  to  assist  us  in  overcoming  our 
weaknesses.  You  see  also  that  even  if  in 
some  things  %e  fail  through  infirmities, 
God  will  not  on  that  account  cast  us  off, 
but  give  us  His  grace  that  we  may  not  sin 
again.  Thus  the  Church  is  a  nursery  of 
piety.  It  is  God's  family,  in  which  His 
childreu,  weak  and  strong,  are  protected, 
encouraged  and  blest ;  and  in  which  they 
grow  up  "unto  perfect  men,  unto  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of 
Christ."  Eph.  4  :  13.  The  Church  is  His 
fold,  from  which  if  any  one  stray,  He 
straightway  "leaveth  the  ninety  and  nine  " 
that  are  safe,  that  He  may  go  after  it  and 
bring  it  back. 

AVhile  it  shows  a  good  spirit  to  express 
an  humble  distrust  in  ourselves,  and  enter- 
tain a  fear  lest  we  should  not  be  able  to 


58  THE   FIFTH   OBJECTION. 

keep  our  vows,  we  should  not  let  this  fear 
keep  us  out  of  the  Church.  This  would 
be  like  refusing  to  go  to  a  full  table  and 
eat,  for  fear  that  we  might  not  be  enabled 
faithfully  to  use  the  strength  thus  derived 
in  the  right  w&j.  We  mvfki  begin  to  do 
our  duty,  and.  God  will  give  us  strength  to 
go  on  in  it.  He  gives  us  the  promise  of 
this  beforehand,  and  He  w^ill  give  us  the 
needed  grace  as  fast  as  we  go  on  in  the 
w^ay.  This  He  has  not  only  promised,  but 
He  has  actually  performed  His  word  to 
thousands  of  them  that  have  feared  Him, 
and  sought  to  keep  his  commandments. 


I   AM   NOT   GOOD   ENOUGH. 

The  Fifth  Objection. 

There  are  some  who  remain  out  of  the 
Church,  because  they  think  they  are  not  fit 
to  join.     I  do  not  consider  myself  prepared, 


THE   FIFTH   OBJECTION.  59 

or  good  enough ;  if  I  were  a  Christian,  I 
would  gladly  join. 

You  have  wrong  views  of  the  Church. 
If  you  are  to  get  all  you  need  to  make  you 
a  Christian  without  the  aid  of  the  Church, 
what  use  is  there  of  the  Church  ?  It  is  the 
same  as  if  a  hungry  man,  invited  to  a  table, 
should  say.  If  I  were  full  and  satisfied,  I 
would  then  sit  down  and  eat.  The  Church, 
like  Christ  himself,  comes  not  to  save  the 
righteous,  but  sinners.  It  is  for  all  who 
feel  their  need  of  Him.  It  is  like  an  ark, 
those  who  w^ould  be  saved,  must  come  into 
it  for  that  very  purpose.  They  must  not 
say,  as  the  waters  are  gathering,  If  I  were 
saved,  I  would  enter  it.  'No,  enter  it  that 
you  may  be  saved.  The  Church,  as  a 
mother.  Gal.  4 :  26,  is  to  give  birth  and 
spiritual  nourishment  to  her  children.  The 
saints  are  born  in  her.  Ps.  87  :  5.  You  are 
to  be  saved,  not  out  of  the  Church,  but  in 
her. 


60  THE   FIFTH    OBJECTION. 

If  you  would  be  a  Christian,  jou  must 
use  the  meaus;  these  means  are  in  the 
Church.  First  of  all,  you  must  be  well  in- 
structed in  the  things  of  religion.  Place 
yourself  under  instruction.  The  truth  is 
all-sufficient,  when  seriously  attended  to, 
under  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to 
convince  you  that  you  are  a  sinner,  and  by 
nature  lost ;  and  thus  your  desire  for  sal- 
vation will  be  deepened,  increased,  and 
rendered  solid.  You  will  become  truly 
penitent.  What  are  you  to  do  now  ?  You 
see  that  you  are  by  nature  lost :  where  is 
help  and  hope?  Salvation  is  offered  to 
you  through  Jesus  Christ.  You  believe 
that  He  will  save  you,  and  you  ask  by  what 
means  ?  You  hear  that  He  has  instituted 
a  Church,  in  which  are  the  means  of  grace, 
by  which  he  prepares  sinful  men  for  heaven. 
You  ask,  how  can  I  enter  into  this  system 
of  grace  ?  The  answer  is,  repent,  believe, 
and  be  baptized.     Y^ou  are  penitent  —  you 


THE   FIFTH    OBJECTION.  61 

do  Lelive — then,  if  you  have  not  been  bap- 
tized, submit  to  baptism.  Thus  you  enter 
the  Church,  and  into  covenant  with  God. 
If  you  have  been  baptized  in  infancy,  you 
are  ah^eady  a  member,  and  under  a  solemn 
obhgation  to  renew  that  covenant.  Thus, 
in  the  Church,  and  in  covenant  with  God, 
you  have  a  right  and  a  warrant  to  claim  all 
the  promises  and  blessings,  and  use  all  the 
means  of  grace.  Thus  you  enter  the 
Church  as  one  who  seeks  salvation.  Seeing 
your  danger,  and  feeling  the  need  of  heliD, 
you  enter  the  ark  where  alone  there  is 
safety. 

The  great  question  is,  are  you  penitent 
for  your  sins  ?  Do  you  feel  the  need  of 
salvation?  Are  you  willing  and  anxious 
to  be  saved  ?  If  so,  you  are  ready  to  enter 
the  Church.  God  is  ready  to  make  a  cove- 
nant with  you.  He  is  willing  to  give  you 
a  place  in  His  Church,  and  thus  admit  you 
6 


62  THE   FIFTH   OBJECTION. 

to  the  privileges  which  He  has  placed  in  it, 
and  by  the  use  of  which  you  are  to  grow  in 
grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ.   • 

If  you  look  into  the  Scriptures,  you  will 
find  that  all  such  as  felt  their  need  of  a 
Saviour,  and  who  believed  that  Jesus  was 
the  Saviour  whom  they  needed,  and  who 
in  humble  faith  accepted  of  Him,  were 
immediately  admitted  into  fellowship  with 
the  disciples,  adopted  and  initiated  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Church,  and  had  the  privilege 
of  using  all  the  means  of  grace  in  it. 
Acts  2:  37-47. 

Are  you  wiUing  to  be  saved ;  and  are 
you  anxious  to  use  all  the  means  instituted 
for  that  end  ?  If  so,  then  enter  the  Church. 
You  will  find  the  means  of  grace  sufficient 
for  you.  Do  you  feel  weak  and  unworthy  ? 
Of  course  you  are  so,  having  but  just  taken 
the  first  step.  Of  course  you  feel  weak, 
3eing  but  a  babe  in  Christ.     So  much  the 


THE   FIFTH   OBJECTION.  63 

more  do  yon  need  the  spiritual  mother,  to 
nurse  and  nurture  you.  The  means  to 
make  you  stronger  are  at  hand :  use  them. 
Join  in  with  God  in  a  solemn  covenant; 
profess  Clirist,  at  once,  before  men ;  walk 
with  His  people.  "  Then  shall  you  know^, 
if  you  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord." 
Hosea  6  :  3. 

You  think  that  you  need  the  same  pre- 
paration to  enter  the  Church,  as  you  do  to 
enter  Heaven.  This  is  a  mistake.  In  the 
Church  you  are  to  he  prepared  for  Heaven. 
The  Church  is  the  Lord's  garden.  The 
plants  or  seeds,  that  are  put  into  it,  are  not 
ripe  and  ready  to  be  gathered  as  soon  as 
they  are  planted,  so  w^e  are  not  yet  ripe  for 
Heaven,  when  we  are  planted  into  the  soil 
of  the  Church  ;  but  we  are  in  it  to  become 
such.  As  a  seed  w411  never  become  more 
than  a  seed,  unless  it  is  put  into  the  soil ; 
so  we  caunot  become  fit  forHeaveu,  unless 


64  THE   FIFTH   OBJECTION. 

we  are  planted  into  the  Church.  Grace 
has  a  small  heginning.  Christians  are  first 
babes  before  they  become  strong  men. 
Babes  that  scarcely  know  anything  of  them- 
selves, are  on  that  account  the  more  fit  to 
be  in  the  family ;  so  babes  in  Christ,  feeble 
as  they  may  be,  are  fit  subjects  to  be  in  the 
Church.  The  very  feeling  of  want  which 
infants  have,  shows  how  much  they  need  a 
mother;  so  your  sense  of  need  and  un- 
worthiness,  shows  how  much  you  need  the 
Church.  You  will  find,  by  blessed  expe- 
rience, that  just  what  you  needif  will  come 
to  you  by  the  right  use  of  the  means  of 
grace.  "Those  that  be  planted  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  shall  flourish  in  the 
courts  of  our  God."     Ps.  92  :  13. 


THE   SIXTH   OBJECTION.  65 

I  AM  Waiting  on  a  Friend. 
The  Sixth  Objection, 

There  are  some  who  profess  to  feel  the 
weight  of  the  duty  of  uniting  with  the 
Church,  hut  they  defer  it  on  the  plea  that 
they  are  w^aiting  on  some  friend  to  join 
w^ith  them. 

This  plea  looks,  at  first  sight,  plausible ; 
for,  the  person  upon  whom  they  are  wait- 
ing, may  be  a  husband,  a  wife,  a  sister,  a 
brother,  a  parent,  or  some  intimate  friend  ; 
and  it  is  natural  that  there, should  be  a 
desire  to  be  joined,  in  such  a  solemn  and 
important  step,  by  those  who  are  dear  to 
us.  Still  this  is  not  a  sufficient  reason  for 
deferring  a  duty  of  such  great  moment. 

1.  Consider,  you  ought  to  move  in  this 

matter  while  God  is  moving  you  by  His 

good  Spirit.     You  feel  it  7io2v  to  be  your 

duty ;   but  if  you  put  it  off,  that  feeling 

6* 


6Q  THE   SIXTH    OBJECTION. 

may  pass  away,  you  may  lose  your  anx- 
iety ;  and  at  last  die  out  of  the  Church. 
It  is  the  Spirit  that  works  this  willingness 
in  you.  It  is  He  that  so  solemnly  reminds 
you  of  your  duty,  and  urges  you  by  "a 
still  small  voice"  to  comply  with  it ;  but 
that  Spirit  will  not  always  strive.  When 
He  withdraws  His  influences,  you  may  be 
given  over  to  hardness  of  heart. 

2.  When  you  delay  this  duty  from  year 
to  year,  you  do  not  give  the  friend  whom 
you  expect  to  win  to  a  profession,  good 
proof  of  your  sincerity  and  earnestness. 
Your  delay  shows  your  friend  that  you  do 
not  feel  your  own  danger,  out  of  the 
Church,  and  thus  you  encourage  him  in 
his  own  ease.  The  likelihood  is  that  the 
longer  you  dela^',  the  longer  he  will  do  the 
same. 

3.  It  is  not  likely  that  your  delay  will 
win  your  friend.  As  it  is  easier  to  draw 
persons  from  good  to  evil,  than  from  evil 


THE    SIXTH    OBJECTION.  67 

to  good,  it  is  more  likely  that  be  will  grad- 
ually win  you  to  entire  neglect,  than  that 
you  will  influence  him  to  duty.  Especially 
will  you  never  be  able  to  press  his  duty 
upon  him  by  deferring  your  own. 

4.  You  sin  by  delaying,  when  you  are 
convinced  of  your  duty.  Your  duty  is  to 
act,  to  go  forward.  By  delaying,  you 
sin  against  the  hght  in  your  own  soul ;  and 
the  greatest  of  all  sin  is  that  which  is 
committed  against  the  light.  Can  yOur 
sinning  on  bring  any  good  to  your  friend  ? 
Certainly  not ;  it  is  a  vain  hope. 

5.  When  you  yourself  are  in  covenant 
with  God,  you  may  expect  that  your  ex- 
ample, your  efforts,  and  your  prayers  will 
prevail  more  with  God  and  with  your 
friend,  than  now\  The  nearer  you  draw 
to  God,  the  more  hope  you  have  of  drawing 
your  friend  after  you. 

6.  You  may  die  soon.  Life  is  uncer- 
tain—delay is  dangerous.     Will  God  jus- 


68  THE   SIXTH   OBJECTION. 

tify  you,  if  you  die  out  of  the  Covenant, 
on  the  ground  that  you  waited  on  a 
friend  ?  Iso.  Keligion  is  to  you  a  per- 
sonal interest.  You  must  act  for  yourself. 
Your  friend  cannot  die  for  you,  cannot  ap- 
pear before  God  for  you.  This  you  must 
do  for  yonrself.  Then  why  delay?  Let 
your  resolution  be  this  :  Let  others  do  as 
they  will,  I  will  lay  hold  upon  life  eternal. 
Momentous  interests  depend  upon  your  de- 
cision. See  that  you  are  right.  See  that 
you  act  in  time. 


I  have  endeavored  to  remove  the  diffi- 
culties which  have  stood  in  your  way,  and 
some  of  which  have,  no  doubt,  kept  you 
thus  far  out  of  the  Church.  I  hope  you 
have  read  with  a  sincere  desire  to  know 
the  truth.  Why  should  you  not  ?  You 
yourself  are  far  more  solemnly  interested 
in   this   matter    than   any   one   else.      If 


THE   SIXTH   OBJECTION.  69 

you  go  down  to  the  gates  of  death  without 
that  preparation  which  the  Scriptures  re- 
quire, it  is  you  that  will  be  the  loser  in 
that  dreadful  failure !  Let  me  ask  you, 
then,  to  consider  these  excuses  as  solemnly 
as  you  would  do  upon  a  death-bed ;  and  if 
you  see  that  they  are  not  sound,  cast  them 
NOW  away  forever ! 


PART    SECOND 


ARGUMENTS  PRESENTED 


(71) 


PAET  SECOND. 
ARGUMENTS  PRESENTED. 

Will  You  read  on? 

I  HAVE  shown  that  the  grounds  on  which 
persons  generally  excuse  themselves  from 
uniting  with  the  Church  are  not  solid  and 
sufficient.  The  discussion  of  the  subject 
would  not  be  complete  if  I  did  not  also 
give  the  positive  arguments  in  favor  of  a 
regular  public  profession  of  religion.  I 
most  earnestly  ask  you  to  read  on  with 
care,  while  I  present  jou  the  reasons,  one 
after  another,  why  you  should  join   the 

7  (73) 


74  ARGUMENTS   PRESENTED. 

Church.  Permit  me,  at  the  beginning,  to 
remind  you,  that  if  you  have  never  made  a 
profession  of  religion,  you  have  the  greatest 
interest  in  ascertaining  whether  it  is  your 
duty. 

It  is  exceedingly  strange  that  any  one 
should  for  a  moment  doubt  that  it  is  a 
duty.  It  is  so  clearly  reasonable  and  scrip- 
tural, that  it  seems  to  me  any  one  who  con- 
siders the  matter  seriously  can  come  only 
to  one  conclusion.  But  the  very  fact  that 
there  are  still  so  many  who  are  out  of  the 
Church,  and  who  have  not  hitherto  been 
persuaded  to  enter  it,  is  the  best  proof  that 
it  is  still  necessary  to  argue  this  point. 
Many,  no  doubt,  are  convinced,  who  still 
refuse  to  act ;  we  sincerely  hope  such  may 
see  the  duty  so  clearly  as  to  be  brought  to 
an  immediate  decision.  Oh,  why  do  you 
not  act  promptly  in  such  a  short  and  un- 
certain life?  "Why  sit  we  here  until  we 
die  ?" 


the  first  argument.  75 

God  has  instituted  the  Church. 
The  First  Argument. 

It  is  your  duty  to  join  the  Church  be- 
cause God  has  instituted  it.  It  is  of  divine 
oriffin.  K  it  were  a  mere  device  of  man, 
a  mere  human  society,  having  for  its  object 
mere  earthly  benefits,  then  we  might  con- 
sult our  own  convenience  and  taste  in 
regard  to  it.  But  an  institution,  of  which 
God  is  the  author,  leaves  us  no  choice  but 
to  obey  what  it  requires. 

That  the  Church  is  a  divine  institution, 
no  one  will  deny.  Even  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment we  find  that  God  had  his  Church  — 
"the  Church  in  the  wilderness."  Acts  7  : 
38.  He  determined  its  order,  appointed 
its  officers,  its  ceremonies,  its  worship,  and 
the  way  by  which  persons  should  enter  it. 
He  blest  those  who  were  faithful  members 
of  it,  and  severely  punished  those  who  for- 


76  THE   FIRST   ARGUMENT. 

sook  his  covenant  and  his  ordinances  ;  and 
entirely  cast  those  off,  who  would  not  sub- 
mit to  its  requirements. 

In  the  Kew  Testament  we  see,  on  ahxiost 
every  page,  that  Christ  came  into  the  world 
to  estabhsh  a  Church  or  kingdom.  Hence 
we  read  of  the  "Kingdom  of  God."  This 
expression  is  often  applied  to  the  Church 
of  God  on  earth.  A  kingdom  must  have 
subjects  who  stand  in  connection  with  it, 
and  submit  to  its  laws.  That  Christ  es- 
tablished a  Church,  is  evident  from  his  own 
declaration :  "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon 
this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church:  and  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 
Matt.  16  :  18.  This  Church  had  its  rules, 
to  which  all  were  required  to  conform. 
Hence  the  Saviour  tells  his  disciples  how 
they  must  proceed  when  a  member  shall 
trespass,  or  be  guilty  of  any  fault;  they 
shall  first    speak  to   him    piivately,   and 


THE   FIRST  ARGUMENT.  77 

secondly  take  one  or  two  witnesses,  and  if 
he  still  refuses  to  yield,  they  shall  "  tell  it 
unto  the  Church."  If  he  "neglect  to  hear 
the  Church,"  then  he  shall  be  separated 
from  them,  and  be  to  them  as  an  heathen 
man  and  a  publican.  Matt.  18  :  15-18. 
Can  any  thing  be  plainer  ?  The  kingdom, 
or  Church,  which  Christ  established  was 
not  merely  an  internal  one,  consisting  of 
piety  in  the  heart ;  but  it  had  an  outward 
form,  constituting  a  public  society,  to  which 
persons  were  formally  joined,  and  from 
which  they  were  excluded,  when  they  were 
guilty  of  faults  worthy  of  exclusion. 

Christ,  then,  is  himself  the  author  of  the 
Church.  He  added  members  to  it  while 
He  was  upon  eai»th.  He  is  declared  to  be 
the  "head  of  the  Church."  The  Church 
is  "  His  body."  Eph.  1 :  23.  "  Christ  also 
loved  the  Church,  and  gave  himself  for  it ; 
that  he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  with 
7* 


78  THE   FIRST   ARGUMENT. 

the  washing  of  water  by  the  word,  that  He 
might  present  it  to  Himself  a  glorious 
Church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any- 
such  thing."  Eph.  5  :  25-27.  It  is  His 
design  and  desire  that  all  should  belong  to 
it,  be  saved  in  it,  and  glorifiecl  with  it  in 
Heaven. 

Can  you  doubt  whether  it  is  your  duty 
to  join?  Did  He  institute  it  in  vain;  and 
after  He  "gave  Himself  for  it,"  can  you 
say  that  you  can  do  as  well  without  it? 
Oh,  consider  this  matter  again ;  and  see 
whether  you  will  not  conclude  that  as 
"  Christ  also  loved  the  Church,"  it  is  your 
duty  to  love  it ;  and  that  as  "  He  gave  Him- 
self for  it,"  so  it  is  your  duty  to  give  your- 
self to  its  service.  Does  he  love  Christ, 
who  is  wilHng  to  die  out  of  His  Church  ? 


the  second  argument.  79 

God  enjoins  it  as  a  Duty. 
The  Second  Argument. 

He  requires  us  to  join  the  Church,  hy  a 
pubhc  profession  of  rehgion,  and  enjoins 
it  upon  us  as  a  duty. 

This  is  evident  from  various  considera- 
tions.' He  has  instituted  forms  of  admis- 
sion into  the  Church.  In  the  Old  Testa- 
ment the  rite  of  admission  was  circumcision. 
Even  children  could  not  belong  to  the  cove- 
nant of  promise  without  circumcision  ;  and 
adults  were  also  to  be  admitted  by  this  rite. 
"  He  that  is  born  in  thy  house,  and  he  that 
is  bought  with  thy  money,  must  needs  be 
circumcised."  And  if  any  one  neglected 
this  sign  of  the  covenant,  "  that  soul  shall 
be  cut  off  from  his  people ;  he  hath  broken 
my  covenant " — or  neglected  my  covenant ; 
see  the  German  translation.  Gen.  17.  Xo 
one,  then,  could  be  among  God's  people, 


80  THE   SECOND   ARGUMENT. 

without  having  been  regularly  admitted  by 
that  rite  which  God  had  appointed  as  the 
rite  of  admission. 

In  the  JSTew  Testament  the  initiatory  rite 
is  baptism.  Christ  himself  submitted  to  it 
in  order  to  fulfil  all  righteousness,  and  that 
He  might  leave  us  an  example  that  we 
should  follow  in  His  footsteps.  The  com- 
mand which  He  gave  his  disciples  could 
not  be  plainer;  "Go  ye  and  teach  all 
nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  tilings 
w^hatsoever  I  have  commanded  you."  Matt. 
28:19-20.  In  Mark  16:16,  we  are  told 
what  the  consequences  will  be  if  we  refuse 
to  submit  to  this  order.  He  that  would  be 
wiser  than  God  in  this  respect,  and  is  deter- 
mined to  take  his  own  way,  must  meet  the 
consequences. 

Not  only  have  rites  of  admission  been  in- 
stituted, but  Christ  has  absolutely  declared 


THE   SECOND   ARGUMENT.  81 

that  every  one  who  will  be  saved  must 
publicly  profess  Him.  Consider  the  solemn 
passage  in  Matt.  10  :  32,  33 :  '•  Whosoever 
therefore  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him 
will  I  confess  also  before  my  Father  which 
is  in  Heaven.  But  whosoever  shall  deny 
me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  deny  before 
my  Father  which  is  in  Heaven."  See  also 
Luke  12  :  8,  9.  The  kind  of  confession 
here  required  is  a  public  one,  for  it  must  be 
^^hefore  men,'"  I:^ow,  if  Christ  has  insti- 
tuted a  Church,  and  also  a  rite,  by  which 
we  are  to  be  admitted  into  it,  and  we  stand 
back  from  it,  is  not  this  denying  our  attach- 
ment  to  Him  ?  We  may  regard  ourselves 
as  confessing  Him  out  of  the  Church  ;  but 
this  is  our  way,  and  not  God's  way,  and  He 
will  not  own  it.  How  can  we  better  deny 
a  government,  than  by  publicly  refusing  to 
be  a  citizen.  If  Christ  has  a  kino-dom  in 
the  world,  and  we  refuse  to  enter  it,  is  not 
that  the  best  evidence  that  we  do  not  wish 


82  THE   THIRD  ARGUMENT. 

Him  to  rule  over  us?  Nothing  can  be 
plainer.  ITow  Christ  declares  absolutely, 
and  without  any  qualification,  that  such  as 
deny  Him  in  this  way  before  men,  them 
will  He  deny  before  God,  and  the  angels. 


The  example  of  the  first  Christians. 
The  Third  Argument. 

We  find  that  all  those  who  became  pious, 
under  the  preaching  of  Christ  and  His 
apostles,  joined  the  Church  immediately. 

Those  who  believed  in  Christ  joined 
themselves  to  Him  and  His  followers.  He 
enjoined  it  upon  them  to  deny  themselves, 
take  up  the  cross,  and  follow  Him.  Matt. 
16  :  24,  He  also  declared  that  if  any  one 
I'efused  to  do  this,  he  was  not  worthy  of. 
Him,  and  could  not  be  His  disciple.  Matt. 
10:38.  Luke  14:27.  They  were  not 
merely  in  a  quiet  and  secret  way  to  adopt 


THE  THIRD   ARGUMENT.  83 

the  truth,  and  practise  religious  principles 
alone  and  for  themselves ;  but  they  were 
to  profess  themselves  openly,  always,  in  all 
places,  and  "before  men,"  as  adherents  to 
Christ.  It  was  the  great  sin  of  Peter  that 
he  denied  that  he  was  a  follower  of  Christ, 
and  refused  to  be  openly  considered  as  such. 
The  social  nature  of  religion,  the  love 
which  it  inspired,  as  well  as  a  hearty  desire 
to  join  with  their  Head  and  Master  in  es- 
tablishing a  visible  Church  and  kingdom 
of  saints,  lead  them  to  draw  towards  each 
other  in  the  sweetest  and  most  intimate 
fellowship.  Hence  we  find  that,  after  our 
Saviour's  death,  "  the  eleven  gathered  toge- 
ther, and  them  thai  were  with  them." 
Luke  24  :  33.  Immediately  after  His  as- 
cension into  Heaven,  they  "  all  continued 
with  one  accord  in  prayer  and  supplication, 
with  the  women,  and  Mary  the  mother  of 
Jesus,  and  with  His  brethren."  Acts  1 : 
14.     On  the  day  of  Pentecost  "  they  were 


84  THE  THIRD  ARGUMENT. 

all  with  one  accord  in  one  place."  Acts 
2  : 1.  After  Peter's  sermon,  on  that  me- 
morable day  when  many  were  pricked  to 
the  heart  by  the  truth,  "  they  that  gladly 
received  his  word,  were  baptized :  and  the 
same  day  there  were  added  unto  tliem  about 
three  thousand  souls."  Here  we  see  how 
a  public  profession  of  religion  immediately 
followed  their  belief  in  the  truth  ;  and  it  is 
added  ''they  continued  steadfastly  in  the 
apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in 
breakiug  of  bread,  and  in  prayers." 

Thus  then  it  appears  quite  evident  that 
the  oarly  Christians  joined  the  Church  im- 
mediately; and  it  seems  that  none  held 
back,  for  it  is  not  said  that  only  some  of 
them  did  so,  but  "  they  that  gladly  received 
his  word,"  did  so.  This  also  continued 
afterwards  to  be  the  case,  for  we  are  told 
that  "  the  Lord  added  to  the  Church  dailj' 
such  as  should  be  saved."  Acts  2  :  41-47. 
It  was  a  natural  result :  they  that  believed 


THE   THIRD    ARGUMENT.  85 

in  Him,  and  received  His  grace,  united  at 
once  with  the  Church.    " 

How  then  can  any  one  doubt  that  it  is 
our  duty  to  make  a  puhHc  profession  of 
rehgion  by  being  "  added  to  the  Church." 
The  example  of  Christians  in  the  apostoKc 
times,  is  as  plain  as  sacred  history  can 
make  it.  That  the  apostles  established 
Churches,  with  ministers  to  teach,  and 
officers  to  rule,  no  one  who  is  at  all  ac- 
quainted with  the  Scriptures  can  doubt. 
These  Churches  included  all  who  professed 
to  be  friends  of  the  Gospel.  Piety,  a 
public  profession  of  religion  by  being  ad- 
ded to  the  Church,  and  operating  with  it, 
was  with  them  identical.  Acts  Y.  11, 
Vin.  1—3,  XI.  22—26,  XII.  5,  XIV.  23— 
2T,  XV.  22,  XVni.  12,  XX.  28.  Eead 
these  passages,  and  then  decide  whether 
you  can  be  in  sympathy  of  spirit  with  the 
disciples    and    early    Christians,    without 

being  united  with  the  Church.     If  you  are 
8 


86  THE   THIRD  ARGUMENT. 

not  like  them  on  earth,  can  you  expect  to 
be  with  them  in  heaven?  Show  me  a 
good  man  or  woman  in  the  whole  Bible 
who  was  not  a  friend  of  the  Chnrch,  and 
who  did  not  belong  to  it.  There  were  per- 
sons in  the  Church  that  were  not  pious — 
but  were  there  any  out  of  it  that  were 
pious  ?  Do  you  say  the  thief  on  the  Cross? 
I  answer  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  ever 
he  had  an  opportunit}^  to  profess  Christ 
before  ;  for  it  is  not  likely  that  he  had  ever 
seen  Him  till  then  ;  and,  moreover,  he  did 
then  confess  Christ  publicly,  as  publicly  as 
possible ;  and  expressed  a  desire  to  be 
with  Him  in  His  kingdom.  Can  you  say 
that  you  have  had  no  opportunity  to  make 
a  profession  of  religion,  when  the  Church 
stands  with  open  doors  before  you,  and 
when  you  are  invited  and  warned.  Sabbath 
after  Sabbath,  from  the  pulpit,  and  daily 
by  your  own  conscience  and  God's  provi- 
dences ? 


THE   FOURTH   ARGUMENT.  87 


Union  with  Christ  is  Through  the 
Church. 

The  Fourth  Argument, 

'  It  is  necessary  to  be  united  with  the 
Church,  because,  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, ive  are  united  to  Christ  through  the 
Church. 

In  order  to  convince  ourselves  of  this, 
we  need  only  look  at  the  representations 
which  are  given  in  Scripture,  of  the  union 
of  Christ  with  His  Church,  and  of  the 
Church  with  her  members.  We  find  that 
this  is  set  forth  by  the  symbol  of  a  human 
body. 

Christ  is  the  head.  The  Church  is  the 
BODY.  Christians  are  the  members  of  that 
body.  This  is  seen  in  the  following  pas- 
sages :  "  God  has  put  all  things  under  His 
(Christ's)  feet,  and  gave  Him  to  be  head 
over  all  things  to  the  Church,  which  is  His 


88  THE   FOURTH   ARGUMENT. 

body."  Eph.  1  :  22—23.  Again  :  "  And 
He  is  the  head  of  the  body,  the  Church." 
CoL  1  :  18.  ITow  that  Christians  are 
united  to  Christ,  their  head,  by  being 
united  with  the  body,  is  seen  in  1  Cor.  12, 
where  this  matter  is  discussed  at  length. — 
"For  as  the  body  is  one,  and  hath  many 
members,  and  all  the  members  of  that 
one  body,  being  many,  are  one  body ;  so 
also  is  Christ.  For  by  one  Spirit  are  we 
all  baptized  into  one  body."  The  Apostle 
then  goes  on  to  show,  that  as  the  eye,  the 
ear,  the  hand,  the  foot,  as  members  of  that 
body,  have  all  difterent  offices,  and  yet  are 
pervaded  by  one  hfe,  so  are  all  the  differ- 
ent individual  Christians  joined  in  the  same 
body,  in  Christ.  "JSTow  ye  are  the  body 
of  Christ,  and  members  in  particular." 

The  Apostle,  in  Eph.  4,  15 — 16,  where 
he  uses  the  same  comparison,  shows  that 
w^e  can  only  be  joined  w^ith  Christ,  the 
head,  and  grow  up  in  Ilim,  by  being  joined 
with  the  Church,  His  body.      "We  are  to 


THE   FOURTH   ARGUMENT.  89 

"  grow  up  in  Him  in  all  things,  which  is 
the  head,  even  Christ :  From  whom  the 
whole  body,  iitly  joined  together  and  com- 
pacted by  that  which  every  joint  siipplieth, 
according  to  the  effectual  working  in  the 
measure  of  every  part,  maketh  increase  of 
the  body  unto  the  edifying  of  itself  in 
love."  See  also  Eph.  2  :  20—22,  and  1 
Cor.  10-:  17. 

This  is  a  solemn  truth,  and  it  ought  to 
be  well  considered  by  all  who  are  out  of 
the  Church.  Out  of  the  Church,  according 
to  the  Apostle,  we  are  like  an  arm,  an  ear, 
or  an  eye,  out  of  the  body — dead  !  The 
life  of  the  Head  does  not  flow  into  us,  un- 
less we  are  in  the  body.  As  the  body  is 
between  the  limbs  and  the  head,  so  the 
Church  is  between  the  members  and 
Christ;  and  we  can  only  be  joined  with 
Him  through  the  Church.  In  the  Church 
is  His  spirit  and  His  grace.  In  the  Church 
are  the  means  by  which  we  are  to  seek  and 
to  find  union  with  Him.  In  the  Chur^^h 
8* 


90  THE   FOURTH   ARGUMENT. 

are  His  ministers  to  show  the  way  to  hfe ; 
there  are  the  sacraments  as  nourishment, 
as  signs  and  seals  of  His  grace ;  and  there 
are  all  the  ordinances  adapted  and  designed 
to  renew  us  into  His  image  unto  perfect 
men  in  Christ. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  discuss  the  ques- 
tion whether  we  can  be  Christians  out  of 
the  Church.  It  is  a  useless  question,  and 
to  such  the  Saviour  Himself  gave  no  an- 
swer. It  is  just  as  in  that  case  where  one 
came  to  Christ,  and  asked,  "  Lord,  are 
there  few  that  he  saved?"  The  Saviour 
answered  his  question  by  saying,  "  Strive 
to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate !"  That  is 
as  much  as  if  he  had  said,  You  have  more 
important  matters  to  engage  your  atten- 
tion ; — whether  few  or  many  are  saved, 
what  is  that  to  thee  ?  See  to  it  that  you 
are  saved.  So  here — if  you  ask,  can  no 
one  be  saved  out  of  the  Church  ?  we  an- 


THE   FOURTH   ARGUMENT.  91 

swer,  You  can  be  saved  in  the  Church ; 
see  that  you  do  not  neglect  it.  This  is 
the  first  duty  which  claims  your  attention. 
When  you  once  feel  yourself  saved  in  the 
Church,  rest  assured  you  will  have  no  de- 
sire to  ask  this  question.  "^Hien  once 
happily  housed  in  your  Father's  house,  in 
joyful  fellowship  with  his  children,  and 
feasting  upon  his  grace  and  love,  you  will 
not  ask  whether  one  can  enjoy  the  same 
blessings  out  in  the  cold  and  dreary  bar- 
rens  of  the  world. 

It  is,  moreover,  the  same  as  if  we 
should  ask :  Cannot  the  eye  see,  and  the 
ear  hear,  when  cut  loose  from  the  body? 
Cannot  the  branches  bring  fruit  when  cut 
off  from  the  vine  ?  Cannot  the  thirsty  and 
hungry  soul  satisf}^  his  wants  away  from 
the  fountain  of  life,  and  away  from  the 
table  which  God  has  provided  for  His 
children?     It  is  enough   for  us  to  know 


92  THE  FOURTH  ARGUMENT. 

that  God  does  not  say  that  we  can  he  saved 
out  of  the  Church!  If  we  can  be,  he  has 
not  revealed  the  fact  to  us.  He  has  no- 
where advised  us  to  stay  out  of  the 
Church.  He  has  nowhere  promised  us 
blessings  for  so  doing.  On  the  contrary, 
He  has  thrown  all  His  exhortations,  His 
warnings.  His  instructions,  and  His  promi- 
ses with  awful  solemnity  on  the  other  side. 
The  Church  is  evidently  His  delight. 
*'  The  Lord  loveth  the  gates  of  Zion  more 
than  all  the  dwellings  of  Jacob.  Glorious 
things  are  spoken  of  thee,  0  city  of  God." 
The  Church  is  the  birth-place  of  the  saints. 
"  And  of  Zion  it  shall  be  said,  This  and 
that  man  was  born  in  her:  and  the  Highest 
Himself  shall  establish  her.  The  Lord 
shall  count,  when  He  writeth  up  the 
people,  that  this  man  was  born  there :  all 
my  springs  are  in  thee."  Ps.  87.  See  also 
Ps.  48. 


THE   FOURTH    ARGUMENT.  93 

As  long  as  any  one  has  no  desire,  and  is 
not  willing  to  join  the  Church,  it  is  the 
best  possible  proof  that  he  is  not  yet  a 
Christian.  For  a  desire  and  hope  to  be 
saved  out  of  the  Church,  is  a  desire  and 
hope  to  be  saved  out  of  God's  way ;  and  as 
long  as  any  one  is  not  willing  to  submit  to 
God's  will  and  way,  his  heart  is  not  right 
with  God.  It  is  with  him  just  as  it  was 
with  Naaman;  he  wished  to  be  cleansed 
of  his  leprosy,  but  not  in  the  way  which 
the  prophet  prescribed ;  but  he  was  not 
healed  till  he  took  the  prophet's  way.  2 
Kings  5.  Refer  to  that  chapter,  and  read 
it  carefully ;  it  furnishes  a  solemn  lesson  to 
all  SQch  as  wish  to  be  saved  in  their  own 
way — out  of  the  Church. 

After  God  has  established  His  Church 
on  earth,  after  He  has  instituted  its  ordi- 
nances, after  Christ  has  "given  Himself 
for  it,"  and  preserved  it  amid  the  ragings 


94  THE   FOURTH   ARGUMENT. 

of  the  heathen,  and  the  tumultuations  of 
the  world's  histoiy,  for  nearly  six  thousand 
years — after  all  this,  it  is  next  to  blasphemy 
to  say  that  we  can  be  saved  as  well  out  of 
the  Church  as  in  it !  What  greater  insult 
can  be  offered  to  God  ?  and  yet  this  is 
done  in  Christian  lands,  and  with  Bible  in 
hand !  Oh,  human  nature,  how  art  thou 
depraved  and  fallen  from  God  !  How  al- 
most hopeless  is  human  self-will  and  pride ! 
Let  me  beg  you,  my  dear  fellow-traveller 
to  eternity,  to  consider  well,  before  you 
peril  your  eternal  interests  upon  such  a 
frail  hope.  Behold  now,  "What  confi- 
dence is  this  wherein  thou  trustedst  ? 
Thou  sayest,  I  have  counsel  and  strength 
for  the  war.  ISTow,  behold,  thou  trustest 
upon  the  staff  of  this  bruised  reed,  on 
which  if  a  man  lean,  it  will  go  into  his 
hand  and  pierce  it."     2  Kings  18-21. 


THE  "fifth  argument.  95 


You     CANNOT     OBEY     ChRIST    OUT    OF    THE 

Church. 

The  Fifth  Argument. 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  one  to  join  the 
Church,  because  it  is  impossible  to  obey 
Christ  in  all  things  without  it. 

You  will  judge  at  once  that  we  allude  to 
the  use  of  the  Sacraments  —  Baptism  and 
the  Lord's  Supper.  Some  persons  make 
very  light  of  these  ordinances.  To  many 
they  are  but  forms,  which  they  think  may 
easily  be  set  aside.  The  chief  reason  why 
these  ordinances  are  not  more  valued  by 
them,  is  because  they  make  so  little  of  the 
Church  in  which  they  are  administered. 
Let  it  be  remarked,  however,  that  those 
who  place  little  value  on  these  ordinances, 
have  not  the  Saviour  for  their  example. 
He  did  not  only  teach  men  to  love  God, 
and  to  serve  Him  with  a  sincere  heart,  but 


96  THE   FIFTH  AKGUMENT. 

He  taught  them  also  to  attend  to  all  the  in- 
stituted ordinances  of  religion.  While  He 
lived  upon  earth,  He  was  not  only  circum- 
cised and  baptized,  but  He  attended  upon 
every  Jewish  Passover  that  was  celebrated 
in  His  time ;  and  when  He  had  instituted 
the  Holy  Sacrament  of  the  Last  Supper 
He  partook  of  it  with  His  disciples.  This 
He  did  that  He  might  fulfil  all  righteous- 
ness, and  leave  us  an  example,  that  we 
should  follow  in  His  footsteps.  Away  with 
that  rehgion  which  does  not  lead  us  to  the 
ordinances  —  it  is  not  from  Christ,  our 
Saviour. 

That  it  is  the  imperative  duty  of  all  who 
would  be  saved  to  be  baptized,  and  to  par- 
take of  the  Lord's  Supper,  is  as  plain  as  it 
can  be  made  in  the  Scriptures.  Both  are 
absolutely,  and  without  condition,  enjoined 
upon  adults.  "'Be  baptized.''  Matt.  3  :  13. 
Mark  16  :  16.  Acts  2  :  38-41.  Acts  8  :  12. 
Acts  22  :  16.     1  Cor.  12  :  13.     Gal.  3  :  27. 


THE   FIFTH   ARGUMENT.  97 

"i)o   this   in   rememhrance  of  me.''     Luke 
22  :  19.      Mark  14  :  22.      Matt.  26  :  26.     1 
Cor.  11 :  23-29.     From  these  passages,  and 
many  more,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  use  of 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  are  solemnly 
enjoined  duties ;  and  they  dare  not  be  ne- 
glected —  they  will  not  be  neglected  by  a 
Christian.     As  long  as  they  are  neglected, 
it  is  the  best  possible  sign  that  there  is  no 
piety  in   the   heart.     For  how  can   piety 
exist  without  leading  to  obedience  ?     The 
Saviour  himself  has  said,  ''  If  a  man  love 
me,  he  will  keep  my  words."    John  14  :  23. 
And  again :  "  If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  com- 
mandments."    Verse  15.     Listen   also  to 
John,  the  gentle  and  lovely  disciple;  how 
strongly  does  he  express  himself  on  this 
point:  "He  that  saith,  I  know  Him,  and 
keepeth  not  His  commandments,  is  a  liar, 
and  the  truth  is  not  in  him."    1  John  2  :  4. 
Hear  that,  all  ye  who  say  you   love   the 
Saviour,  and  have  never  yet  obeyed  His 


98  THE   FIFTH   ARGUMENT. 

dying  command :  "  Do  this  in  remembrance 
of  me."  Your  hearts  are  deceiving  you. 
There  is  no  evidence  on  earth  that  can 
prove  you  to  love  Christ,  as  long  as  that 
love  does  not  lead  you  to  obedience.  If  an 
angel  from  Heaven  (Gal.  1 : 8)  should 
preach  a  different  doctrine  from  that  which 
is  here  so  plainly  taught,  he  is  not  to  be 
believed.  "  For  this  is  the  love  of  God,  that 
we  keep  His  commandments."  1  John  5  :  3. 
Thus,  then,  you  see  that  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  obey 
Christ  in  the  Sacraments.  This  you  can 
only  do  by  joining  the  Church ;  for  Christ 
has  appointed  Officers,  and  made  laws,  in 
His  Church ;  and  those  who  will  enjoy  its 
privileges  must  submit  to  its  rules.  If 
there  were  no  rules,  so  that  any  one,  and 
every  one,  might  come  to  the  table  of  the 
Lord,  there  could  be  no  order,  and  indeed 
no  Church.  "  God  is  not  the  author  of 
confusion,  but  of  peace,  as  in  all  Churches 


THE   FIFTH   ARGUMENT.  99 

of  the   saints."      1    Cor.   14 :  33.     Hence, 


"Let  all  things  be  done  decently  and  in 
order."  Yerse  40.  Hence,  also,  it  is  made 
the  duty  of  the  officers  in  the  Church  to 
guard  its  purity,  and  to  exclude  any  who 
disgrace  their  profession.  See  1  Cor.  V. 
This  order  could  not  be  kept  up,  were  it 
not  required  that  all  who  will  partake  of 
the  ordinances  in  the  Church,  should  con- 
nect themselves  with  it  in  a  regular  way. 

You  have  now  seen,  that  if  we  will  be 
Christians  we  must  use  the  Sacraments. 
You  have  seen  also  that  these  are  in  the 
Church,  and  can  be  allowed  onty  to  such 
as  are  regularly  connected  with  it.  Hence, 
in  order  to  keep  the  Saviour's  command- 
ments, you  must  join  the  Church.  Out  of 
the  Church,  you  are  away  from  the  Sacra- 
ments ;  and  how  can  you  be  pious  without 
a  covenant,  without  means  of  grace,  and 
without  obedience  ? 


100  THE   SIXTH   ARGUMENT. 


It  is  your  Duty  to  give  your  Influence 
TO  the  Church. 

The  Sixth  Argument, 

It  is  your  duty  to  belong  to  the  Church,. 
because  it  is  only  in  this  way  that  you  can 
stand  on  the  side  of  religion  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world. 

It  will  be  in  vain  for  you  to  say  to  others 
that  you  are  a  friend  of  Christ,  of  His 
Church,  and  its  ordinances,  as  long  as  you 
stand  out  of  its  sacred  enclosure.  Your 
example  will  speak  louder  than  your  words ; 
and  those  over  whom  your  influence,  in  any 
way,  extends,  will  do  as  you  do,  and  not  as 
you  say.  Thus,  as  long  as  you  are  out  of 
the  Church,  the  whole  weight  of  your  in- 
fluence lies  against  it. 

In  this  way  vast  injury  is  done  by  the 
silent,  but  effective,  power  of  example. 
Especially  do  parents,  in  this  way,  by  their 


THE    SIXTH   ARGUMENT.  101 

example,  infuse  into  the  minds  of  their 
children  a  secret  disrespect  for  religion  and 
its  ordinances.  There  is  not  the  least 
doubt  that  many  children,  growing  up 
around  uncovenanted  parents,  have  been 
kept  out  of  the  Church  and  out  of  Heaven, 
just  because  they  could  silence  the  claims 
of  rehgion  upon  them,  by  the  example  of 
parents.  They  may  speak  piously  to  their 
children,  but  what  weight  has  that,  so  long 
as  their  own  hearts  are  not  led  to  obedience 
in  what  God  requires  of  all  in  connection 
with  His  Church.  The  child  will  think 
thus  :  if  you  are  sincere  in  speaking  of  the 
necessity  of  piety,  why  do  not  you  profess 
it  ?  It  is  natural  for  us  to  feel  suspicious, 
when  one  points  out  to  us  a  way,  in  which 
he  is  not  himself  willing  to  walk.  It  is 
only,  then,  by  making  a  profession  of  reli- 
gion yourself,  that  you  can  be  considered 
on  the  Lord's  side  by  others. 
It   is  on  this  account  that  we  are  con- 


102  THE    SIXTH   ARGUMENT. 

stantly  exhorted  in  the  Scripture  to  sepa- 
rate ourselves  from  the  world,  and  stand 
with  the  people  of  the  Lord,  on  the  Lord's 
side.  "Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked  toge- 
ther wdth  unbelievers  :  for  what  fellowship 
hath  righteousness  with  unrighteousness? 
and  what  communion  hath  light  with  dark- 
ness ?  And  what  concord  hath  Christ  with 
Belial  ?  or  what  part  hath  he  that  believeth 
with  an  infidel  ?  Wherefore  come  out  from 
among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the 
Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing ; 
and  I  w^ill  receive  you ;  and  will  be  a 
Father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons 
and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty." 
2  Cor.  6 :  14-18.  Hence  also  we  are 
"called  to  be  saints"  —  that  is,  lioly  ones: 
not  only  holy  ones  in  the  sense  of  inward 
purity,  but  also  in  the  sense  of  outward 
separation.  The  apostle,  in  1  Peter  2  :  9, 
shows  plainly  that  those  who  profess  to  be 
pious,  ought  to  form  a  holy  society,  in  in- 


THE    SIXTH    ARGUMENT.  103 

ward  as  well  as  outward  fellowship  wilIi 
each  other.  "  Ye  are  a  chosen  generation, 
a  royal  priesthood,  an  holy  nation,  a  pecu- 
liar people."  He  also  points  out  the  reason 
why  they  are  thus  called  out  from  the 
world :  "  That  ye  should  show  forth  the 
praises  of  Him  who  hath  called  you  from 
darkness  into  his  marvellous  light."  How 
can  our  example  tell  upon  others,  as  long 
as  we  are  in  position  among  them?  —  and 
how  can  we  honor  the  Church,  as  long  as 
we  stand  aloof  from  it.  Or  how  can  we 
be  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood, 
an  holy  nation,  and  a  peculiar  people,  as 
long  as  we  are  not  separate  from  the  world. 
We  must  stand  out  publicly  on  the  side  of 
the  Church  with  those  who  ''witness  a 
good  profession,"  and,  in  the  face  of  the 
world,  let  our  light  shine.  This  alone  can 
be  properly  called  confessing  Christ "  before 
men,"  and  letting  our  "hght  shine  before 
men." 


104  THE   SIXTH   ARGUMENT. 

Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  our  influence 
is  also  a  talent  with  which  we  must  glorify 
God.  You  have  influence ;  and  how  many 
perhaps  are  kept  out  of  the  Church  by 
your  example  !  How  many  perhaps  w^ould 
follow  you  if  you  made  a  profession  of  re- 
ligion !  And  among  those  which  you  could 
draw  after  you,  are  your  best  friends — per- 
haps a  wife,  a  husband,  a  sister,  a  brother, 
or  children  ;  for  it  is  over  these  you  have 
the  most  influence.  "Will  you  then  go  on 
in  disobedience  to  the  command  of  your 
sufiering  Lord,  with  so  many  hanging  to 
your  skirts,  and  following  in  the  fearful 
wake  of  your  influence  and  example  into  a 
hopeless  grave ! 

This  consideration  appeals  especially, 
with  awful  force,  to  such  as  have,  on  ac- 
count of  talents,  learning,  wealth,  office  or 
position,  more  than  ordinary  influence  in 
society  ;  and  whose  example  has  w^eight  in 
the   minds  of  many.     "  Have  any  of  the 


THE   SIXTH   ARGUMENT.  105 

rulers,  or  of  the  Pharisees  believed  on 
Him?"  This  is  the  question  which  arises 
in  the  heart  of  many  in  the  humbler  walks 
of  life,  when  the  claims  of  religion  are 
pressed  upon  them.  If  religion  is  so  im- 
portant, and  if  a  connection  with  the 
Church  is  so  indispensable,  why  do  not  all 
our  Physicians,  Lawyers,  Legislators,  and 
eminent  men,  become  members  of  the 
Church  ?  They  are  intelligent,  and  capable 
of  weighing  the  claims  of  duty,  and  are 
we  not  safe  in  following  their  example. 
"When  they  are  sometimes  almost  over- 
powered by  the  excellency  of  the  truth, 
and  are  inwardly  moved  to  fall  in  with  it, 
still  the  example,  the  apparent  indifference 
of  the  "rulers,"  makes  them  waver;  and, 
half  in  doubt  whether  they  shall  yield  to 
inward  conviction  or  trust  to  their  exam- 
ples, they  ask:  "  Do  the  rulers  know  indeed 
that  this  is  the  Christ  ?"     John  YIL 

We  remember  of  having  heard   of  an 


106  THE   SIXTH  ARGUMENT. 

eminent  statesman  who  once  offered  1000 
dollars  to  any  one  who  should  reform  his 
profligate  son;  but  we  did  not  hear  that 
any  one  attempted  to  secure  the  prize. 
This  could  all  have  been  spared,  had  the 
parent  brought  up  his  family  in  the  Church, 
and  under  the  trainings  of  grace,  leading 
the  way  by  his  own  example  and  influence. 
—  Was  it  not  natural  that  the  son  should 
have  confidence  in  the  example  of  so 
honored  a  parent,  and  thus  be  content  out 
of  the  Church  and  covenant  of  God,  in 
which  alone  there  is  safety  ?  —  Was  it  not 
natural  for  the  son,  when  the  claims  of  re- 
ligion were  presented,  to  ask:  "Has  my 
Father  believed  on  Him?"  Alas!  if  any 
one  raise  children  in  the  uncovenanted 
wilds  of  the  world,  instead  of  the  garden 
of  the  Lord,  he  must  blame  only  himself 
if  they  turn  out  to  be  "  degenerate  plants 
of  a  strange  vine."  Themselves  they  must 
blame  when  at  last  they  are  forced  to  mourn 


THE   SEVENTH  ARGUMENT.  107 

bitterly  over  their  ruin,  "  0  my  son  Abso- 
lom  !  my  son,  my  son  Absalom  !  would  to 
God  I  had  died  for  thee,  0  Absalom,  my 
son,  my  son !" 


Your  Course  would  destroy  the  Church. 
The  Seventh  Argument, 

If  all  did  as  you  do,  there  could  be  no 
Church  and  no  public  service  in  the  world. 

There  can  be  no  nation  without  citizens ; 
and  so  there  can  be  no  Church  without 
members.  K  all,  therefore,  stood  aloof  as 
you  do,  and  refused  to  unite  with  others  in 
keeping  up  the  Church's  eternal  organiza- 
tion, it  could  not  exist.  True,  this  will 
never  be — Christ  will  always  raise  up  those 
who  will  sustain  His  Church;  but  so  far 
as  your  influence  and  example  reach,  their 
direct  tendency  is  to  destroy  the  Church, 
for  which  Christ  died.     All  that  is  neces- 


108  THE    SEVENTH   ARGUMENT. 

sary  to  bring  about  this  dreadful  result  is, 
that  all  others  should  think  as  you  think, 
and  do  as  you  do.  Then,  soon,  there  would 
be  no  Churches,  no  public  assemblies  of 
God's  people,  no  professing  people  of  God 
crowding  to  the  Sacramental  Table  to  cele- 
brate the  Saviour's  dying  love,  and  obey 
His  dying  command.  Do  you  desire  to  see 
such  consequences  ?  We  cannot  think  so ; 
and  yet  you  are  giving  the  full  weight  of 
your  influence  and  example  toward  bring- 
ing about  this  result ! 

It  is  a  true  and  a  just  rule:  "We  must 
do  nothing  ourselves  which  we  would  not 
be  willing  should  become  a  general  rule  for 
all."  Are  you  willing  that  the  rule  you 
adopt,  and  the  course  you  pursue,  should 
become  the  rule  and  course  of  all  ?  Cer- 
tainly you  are  not.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
you  would  advise  your  best  friend,  or  your 
children,  to  do,  in  this  respect,  as  you  do. 
And  if  the  whole  world  should  suddenly 


THE    SEVENTH   ARGUMENT.  109 

throw  up  their  interest  in  the  Church,  and 
withdraw  from  it,  you  yourself  would  be 
alarmed.  For  certainly  you  acknowledge 
that  Christ  established  a  Church,  and  that 
it  ought  to  continue  to  exist.  Is  it  not 
then  your  duty  to  join  it  and  to  aid  in  keep- 
ing it  up,  just  as  much  so  as  it  is  the  duty 
of  any  one  else. 

Those,  also,  who  now  belong  to  the 
Church,  could  have  offered  the  same  objec- 
tions, and  made  the  same  excuses,  which 
you  now  present ;  and  these  excuses  would 
have  had  just  as  much  weight  in  their  case 
as  they  have  in  yours.  How  plain  is  it, 
then,  that  it  is  the  deceitful n ess  of  the 
heart,  the  allurements  of  the  world,  the 
flesh,  and  the  devil,  and  a  wicked  nature 
which  is  naturally  averse  to  duty  —  it  is 
these  that  keep  you  back  from  making  a 
profession  of  religion,  and  from  union 
with  the  Church.  The  Holy  Scriptures 
tell  us  that  "  the  heart  is  deceitful  above 
10 


110  THE   EIGHTH  ARGUMENT. 

all   things,  and  desperately  wicked."     If 
we  follow  its  suocirestions,  it  ^vill  lead  us 

OCT?  ' 

astray.     0  do  not  entrust  to  it  the  decision 
of  this  solemn  question. 


It  will  do  You  great  Good. 
The  Eighth  Argument. 

You  ought  to  join  the  Church  because 
of  the  excellent  effect  which  it  would  exert 
upon  you. 

It  would  be  a  difficult  and  almost  end- 
less task,  to  exhibit  all  the  good  effects 
which  will  result  to  you  from  a  i^ight  con- 
nection with  the  Church.  They  are  as  ex- 
tensive and  various  as  the  influences  of 
religion  itself,  which  it  is  the  great  aim 
and  end  of  the  Church  to  beget  and  unfold 
in  the  heart  and  life  of  all.  Many  of  its 
influences  are  so  silent  that  they  cannot  be 


THE   EIGHTH    ARGUMENT.  HI 

traced  in  their  details.  Gently  as  the  dew 
do  its  cheering,  refreshing,  and  life-giving 
influences  distil  upon  the  heart ;  and  it  is 
because  these  influences  are  so  gentle  and 
silent,  that  they  are  so  difficult  fully  to 
appreciate.  "I  will  be  as  the  dew  unto 
Israel :  he  s'hall  grow  as  the  lily,  and  cast 
forth  his  roots  as  Lebanon.  His  branches 
shall  spread,  and  his  beauty  shall  be  as  the 
olive  tree,  and  his  smell  as  Lebanon.'  They 
that  dwell  under  His  shadow  shall  return ; 
they  shall  revive  as  the  corn,  and  grow  as 
the  vine."     Hos.  14  :  5,  6,  7. 

He  that  is  in  the  Church,  is  as  a  plant  in 
good  soil  — warmed  by  the  sun  of  heaven, 
refreshed  by  its  showers,  and  made  glad  in 
the  smiles  of  the  Lord.  The  silent  but 
eflectual  manner  in  which  those  who  stand 
in  this  kingdom  of  grace  are  pervaded  and 
transformed  by  the  power  of  grace,  is  beau- 
tifully set  forth  by  the  Saviour  in  some  of 
His  parables.     The  grace  of  Christ  trans- 


112  THE    EIGHTH   ARGUMENT. 

fuses  itself  like  leaven.  Matt.  13  :  33.  It 
is  also  like  a  mustard-seed,  which  gradually 
and  silently  becomes  a  great  tree  from  the 
smallest  of  seeds.  Matt.  13  :  31,  32.  And 
again  :  "  So  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  if 
a  man  should  cast  seed  into  the  ground ; 
and  should  sleep,  and  rise  night  and  day, 
and  the  seed  should  spring  and  grow  up, 
he  knoweth  not  how.  For  the  earth  bring- 
eth  forth  fruit  of  herself — first  the  blade, 
then  the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in  the 
ear.  But  when  the  fruit  is  brought  forth, 
immediately  he  putteth  in  the  sickle,  be- 
cause the  harvest  is  come."  Mark  4 : 
26-29.  So  silently,  gradually,  but  surely, 
does  the  Church  "bring  forth  fruit  of  her- 
self;" and  so  rich  is  the  harvest  which 
those  reap  in  the  end  who  have  been 
planted  in  this  vineyard  of  the  Lord. 

The  good  effects  which  result  from  a 
regular  connection  with  the  Church,  can 
be  seen  in  many  excellent  specimens  of 


THE    EIGHTH   ARGUMENT.  113 

Christian  character  cultivated  and  perfected 
in   its   bosom.     The  finest   specimens    of 
human  excellence  which  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  were  in  the  Church.     This  would  be 
seen  and  acknowledged  more  than  it  is, 
were  it  not  that  most  of  persons,  in  view- 
ing the  Church,  fix  their  eyes  first  and  only 
upon  the  Judases  and  Peters  —  who  deny 
and   betray    Christ.      Many   a   good   ripe 
Christian   lives   and    dies   in   the    Church 
while  no  one  says,  "  See  a  righteous  man, 
let   us   imitate  him;"  but  there   are   few    ' 
hypocrites  who  are  not  pointed  out  by  non- 
professors  as  standing   arguments  against 
the  Church,  w^hich  lead  men  to  the  awful 
and  ruinous  conclusion :  "We  are  as  good 
out  of  the  Church  as  in  it."     But  who  will 
deny  that  the  loveliest  Christian  characters 
in  society  are  formed  in  the  Church  ?     Wo 
will  venture  the  assertion,  that  if  you  will 
select  from  among  your  acquaintances  five 
persons  in  whom  you  would   repose   un- 
10* 


114  THE    EIGHTH   ARGUMENT. 

bounded  conlidence,  —  persons  in  whoso 
hands  you  would  entrust  your  property 
while  you  live,  and  your  children  when 
you  die, — we  will  venture  to  say  that  those 
■^YQ  persons  are  professors  of  religion. 
Many  an  aged  patriarch  have  you  seen, 
who  had  been  "  planted  into  the  house  of 
the  Lord"  in  youth,  nourished  by  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  Church,  and  ripened  for 
glory,  till  he  was  gathered  "  like  as  a  shock 
of  corn  cometh  in  his  season."  The  com- 
munity felt  his  loss ;  like  Stephen  of  old, 
"  devout  men  carried  him  to  his  burial, 
and  made  a  great  lamentation  over  him  ;" 
and,  returning  from  his  honored  grave, 
many  sighs  were  heard  in  the  crowd  :  *'  A 
good  man  hath  gone  to  his  rest !" 

How  can  it  be  otherwise  than  that  union 
with  the  Church  should  have  a  blessed 
effect?  There  the  heart  finds  in  sabbatic 
hours,  its  quiet  habitation.  There  God 
speaks,  through  His  ministers,  words  of 


THE   EIGHTH   ARGUMENT.  115 

instruction — words  of  admonition — words 
of  exhortation — words  of  warnins; — words 
of  promise  and  consolation.  There  the 
sacraments  are  dispensed — there  His  praise 
is  sung — there  prayer  is  addressed  to  Him 
who  is  the  hearer  of  prayer,  and  the  re- 
warder  of  all  them  that  diligently  seek 
Him.  It  is  the  place  which  God  has 
chosen  for  His  peculiar  dwelling-place  on 
earth  ;  and  He  is  known  in  "  her  palaces 
for  a  refuge,"  as  He  is  not  known  in  all  the 
earth  beside. 

I  love  her  gates,  I  love  the  road ; 

The  Church,  adorned  with  grace, 
Stands  like  a  palace  built  for  God, 

To  show  Ilis*milder  face. 

Who  will  deny  that  it  has  a  good  in- 
fluence upon  the  heart  to  be  in  the  Church; 
and,  in  covenant  with  God,  to  receive  all 
the  blessings  which  the  covenant  promises? 
It  cannot  be  that  you  doubt  this.  If,  then, 
the    Church   has   such   blessings  in  store, 


116  THE   NINTH   ARGUMENT. 

why  do  you  continue  to  deprive  yourself 
of  them  ?  Why  do  you  neglect  them 
while  they  are  passing  so  fast  away,  and 
will  soon  be  beyond  your  reach  forever. 
Is  it  thus  that  you  will  purchase  for  your- 
self bitterness  on  a  dying  bed,  and  eternal 
regret  when  the  harvest  is  past,  and  the 
summer  of  life  is  ended  ?  "  If  thou  hadst 
known,  even  thou,  at  least  in  this  thy  day, 
the  things  which  belong  unto  thy  peace ! 
but  now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes." 


Look  at  the  Solem-n  Consequences. 

The  Ninth  Argument, 

There  is  another  reason  why  you  should 
join  the  Church,  closely  allied  to  the  one 
last  mentioned.  It  is  this:  'Bot  to  unite 
with  it  will  bring  injury  upon  you,  and, 


THE   NINTH   ARGUMENT.  117 

throngli  you,  upon  others  after  you ;  espe- 
cially if  you  are  a  parent  or  ever  will  be. 

All  the  good  effects  of  which  we  have 
just  spoken,  you  will  of  course  lose.  Be- 
ing out  of  covenant  with  God,  you  cannot 
claim  His  blessings,  and  He  is  not  pledged 
to  bestow  them.  He  gives  you  a  thousand 
promises,  if  you  will  confess  Him,  and 
identify  yourself  with  His  Church,  king- 
dom, and  people ;  but  not  one  promise,  as 
long  as  you  walk  in  disobedience.  By 
looking  at  His  dealings  with  His  people  in 
the  Old  Testament,  you  will  see  that  He 
blessed  those  who  were  in  covenant  with 
Hira  ;  and  forsook  those  who  refused  the 
covenant.  Oh,  what  a  lesson  does  the 
whole  transaction  of  God  with  the  Jews 
teach  in  this  respect !  The  whole  history 
of  the  Jews  is  a  commentary  on  the  cove- 
nant and  promise :  "  He  that  is  born  in 
thy  house,  and  he  that  is  bought  with  thy 
money,  7nust  needs  he  circumcised :  and  my 


118  THE   NINTH   ARGUMENT. 

covenant  shall  he  in  your  flesh  for  an  ever- 
lastmg  covenant."  The  whole  history  also 
of  the  unfaithfal  portion  of  the  Jews,  and 
of  the  uncovenanted  nations  around,  is  a 
commentary  on  the  threat :  "  And  the  un- 
circumcised  man-child,  whose  flesh  of  his 
foreskin  is  not  circumcised,  that  soul  shall 
"be  cut  off  from  his  j^eople  ;  he  hath  broken 
my  covenant."     Gen.  17  :  13-14. 

The  same  God  still  lives !  He  is  still 
the  same  in  His  dealings  with  those  that 
are  in  covenant  with  Him,  and  with  those 
that  are  not.  Though  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment we  have  a  ''better  covenant,  which 
was  established  upon  better  promises," 
(Heb.  8  :  6)  yet  it  is  a  covenant  still ;  and 
those  who  would  receive  its  blessing,  must 
enter  into  covenant  relations  with  God.  In 
the  'New  Testament,  as  well  as  in  the  Old, 
God  stands  before  you,  offering  to  confess 
you,  if  3^ou  confess  Him.  Listen  to  His 
gracious  words :  "I  will  dwell  in  them,  and 


THE   NINTH   ARGUMENT.  119 

walk  ill  them ;  and  I  will  be  their  God, 
and  they  shall  be  my  people.  Wherefore, 
come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye 
separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the 
unclean  thing ;  and  I  will  receive  you ; 
and  will  be  a  Father  unto  you,  and  ye 
shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the 
Lord  Almighty."  2  Cor.  6  :  16-18.  This 
is  God's  ofler  to  you.  Thus  He  stands  and 
pleads  with  a  sinful  worm  ! 

"  Oh  how  canst  thou  renounce,  and  hope  to  be  for- 
given V 

Will  you  die  out  of  covenant  with  God  ? 
Will  you  die  out  of  the  Church  ?  Will 
you  die  without  any  marks  of  sacramental 
blessings  upon  you  ?  Will  you  die  without 
some  seal  placed  upon  you  by  the  hand  of 
God  Himself,  giving  you  some  comfortable 
encouragement  to  hope  in  His  mercy  ? 

Do  you  say  you  believe  and  hope  in 
Christ  ?    I  answer,  as  we  have  already  seen 


120  THE   NINTH  ARGUMENT. 

in  a  former  part  of  this  treatise,  graciously 
Christ  is  only  in  His  Church.  The 
Church  is  "His  body."  If  you  will  be 
in  Him,  you  must  be  in  the  Church,  as 
nieml)3rs  are  in  the  body.  If  you  obey 
Him  not,  in  His  ordinances,  then  you  are 
none  of  His  !  Oh  hear  it,  unless  you  obey 
Him,  you  are  none  of  His !  For  He  Him- 
self says,  "He  that  hath  my  command- 
ments, and  Jceepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth 
me."  "If  a  man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my 
words.'''  His  words  are,  "  Do  this  in  re- 
membrance of  me."  His  words  are,  "Con- 
fess me  before  men."  You  keep  not  His 
words,  you  obey  not  His  commands — even 
not  His  dying  command !  Hear  it :  thus 
disobeying,  you  are  not  His ! — you  are  not 
His  !  Out  of  the  Church,  without  Baptism 
and  the  Lord's  Supper — out  of  the  Church, 
without  a  living  union  with  the  Head, 
through  the  body,  you  are  a  member  cut 
off,  and  dead  !     Hear  it,  cut  off  and  dead  ! 


THE   NINTH   ARGUMENT.  121 

Are  you  a  parent  ?  Then  in  addition  to 
the  loss  you  yourself  sustain,  out  of  the 
Church,  you  make  your  children  heirs  of 
this  loss.  "TVhy  did  salvation  come  to 
the  house  of  Zaccheus  ?"  Luke  19.  The 
answer  is  given  by  Christ  Himself:  "  For- 
asmuch  as  he  also  is  a  son  of  Abraham.'' 
Here  God  remembered  the  covenant  He 
had  made  with  the  parents  of  Zaccheus — 
that  covenant  included  "their  seed." 
]N'ow  Zaccheus  shares  its  fruits.  There 
were  other  houses  in  Jericho,  but  Jesus 
goes  to  the  house  of  Zaccheus,  because  he 
also  is  a  son  of  Abraham  —  and  He  took 
salvation  with  Him  when  He  went !  Here 
we  see  the  benefit  which  children  receive 
from  the  covenant  relation  into  which  they 
are  placed  by  their  parents.  Have  you  no 
desire  to  secure  them  to  your  children  ;  so 
that  when  you  are  dead,  God  may  be  the 
God  of  your  offspring  ? 

There  is  not  the  least  doubt  that  many 
11 


122  THE  NINTH  ARGUMENT. 

children  receive  the  gracious  visits  of 
God's  grace  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  their 
parents  were  in  covenant,  and  secured  the 
covenant  also  to  them.  Neither  is  there 
any  doubt,  on  the  other  hand,  that  many 
are  lost,  because  they  were  not  only  left 
out  of  the  Church  by  their  parents,  but 
encouraged  to  remain  out  by  the  full 
Aveight  of  their  parents'  influence  and  ex- 
ample. Left  on  the  uncovenanted  wilds 
of  the  world,  without  God  and  without 
hope,  "  aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of 
Israel,  and  strangers  to  the  covenants  of 
promise,"  it  is  not  strange  that  they  first 
despise,  then  wander,  and  at  last  perish. 

To  illustrate  this  solemn  and  alarming 
truth  we  may  refer  to  a  fact,  and  there  are 
many  like  it.  Two  brothers  came  from 
Switzerland,  four  generations  back.  The 
one  was  in  the  Church,  and  remained  in 
it,  a  faithful  member ;  bringing  up  all  his 


THE  NINTH  ARGUMENT.  123 

children  in  it.  Piety  is  still  honored  in  all 
the  branches  of  that  family  in  the  fourth 
generation  ! 

"  If  pure  and  holy  is  the  root,  such  are  the  branches 
too." 

The  other  became  a  sot,  and  of  course 
cast  off  the  covenant  for  himself  and  for 
his  children.  Xot  only  his  drunkenness, 
but  the  curse  of  being  out  of  the  Church 
can  be  distinctly  traced  in  that  family  in 
the  fourth  generation !  Such  are  the 
solemn  and  far-reaching  consequences  of 
our  acts  upon  our  posterity. 

Will  you,  as  a  parent,  take  the  dreadful 
responsibility  of  bringing  up  your  children 
out  of  the  Church,  and  confirm  them  in 
that  position  by  the  influence  of  your  ex- 
ample? Look  down  the  history  of  your 
own  family  through  four  generations, — 
think  of  the  momentous  consequences  for 
good   or  for   evil  which  you  may  entail 


124  THE   NINTH  ARGUMENT. 

upon  them,  and  then  decide  whether  you 
will  live  and  die  out  of  the  Church !  Will 
you  be  the  head  of  a  stream  of  results, 
which  will  become  wider,  wilder,  and 
darker,  after  you  are  dead,  roll  down  its 
ever-increasing  consequences  into  eternity, 
and  cause  you,  when  you  meet  them  in 
the  judgment,  to  curse  the  day  in  which 
you  and  they  were  born  !  Certainly  this 
is  something  to  be  seriously  thought  of 
before  it  is  too  late. 

We  ought  always  to  act  as  in  view  of 
death,  and  the  judgment.  These  solemn 
realities  are  drawing  nearer  every  day ! 
Soon  earth,  with  all  its  interests  and  cares, 
will  recede  from  our  dying  vision.  Oh  ! 
how  bitter  must  the  last  hour  be  to  us,  if 
we  have  all  our  life  lived  in  the  neglect  of 
what  is  so  plainly  our  solemn  duty,  and 
blessed  privilege  !  Let  me  beseech  you,  as 
you  are  about  to  close  this  book,  to  seek 
in  the  Church,  the  home  of  your  spirit; 


THE   NINTH    ARGUMENT.  125 

and  you  will  find  it,  as  the  patriarch  did, 
"the  gate  of  Heaven."  You  will  never 
obtain  true  rest  and  peace,  till  you  find  it 
in  the  bosom  of  the  Church.  "  Look 
upon  Zion,  the  city  of  our  solemnities; 
thine  eyes  shall  behold  Jerusalem  a  quiet 
habitation,  a  tabernacle  that  shall  not  be 
taken  down ;  not  one  of  the  stakes  there- 
of shall  ever  be  removed,  neither  shall  any 
of  the  cords  thereof  be  broken."  All  else 
is  unsettled  and  unstable.  Empires  fall, 
and  nations  die ;  one  generation  cometh 
and  another  goeth :  families  pass  away 
from  earth,  and  all  flesh  is  as  the  grass  be- 
fore the  scythe  of  the  mower.  All  is  rest- 
less and  vanishing,  but  the  firm  founda- 
tions of  the  eternal  Kingdom  !  Oh,  seek 
rest  in  it. 

People  of  the  living  God  ! 
I  have  sought  the  world  around ; 
Paths  of  sin  and  sorrow  trod, 

Peace  and  comfort  nowhere  found  ; 
11* 


126  A  HYMN. 

Now  to  you  my  spirit  turns, 
Turns — a  fugitive  unblest  ; 

Brethren,  when  your  altar  burns, 
Oh  !  receive  me  into  rest. 


A    HYMN. 

I  LOVE  Thy  Kingdom,  Lord, 
The  house  of  Thine  abode; 

The  Church  our  blest  Redeemer  saved 
With  His  own  precious  blood. 

I  love  Thy  Church,  0  God! 

Her  walls  before  Thee  stand, 
Dear  as  the  apple  of  Thine  eye, 

And  graven  on  Thy  hand. 

If  e'er  to  bless  Thy  sons, 

My  voice  or  hands  deny, 
These  hands  let  useful  skill  forsake, 

This  voice  in  silence  die. 

If  e'er  my  heart  forget 

Her  welfare  or  her  wo. 
Let  every  joy  this  heart  forsake, 

And  every  grief  o'erflow. 


A   HYMN,  12T 

For  her  my  tears  shall  fall, 
•    For  her  my  prayers  ascend  ; 
To  her  my  cries  and  toils  be  given, 
Till  toils  and  cares  shall  end. 

Beyond  my  highest  joy, 

I  prize  her  heavenly  ways ; 
Her  sweet  communion,  solemn  vows. 

Her  hymns  of  love  and  praise. 

Jesus,  Thou  friend  divine. 

Our  Saviour,  and  our  King, 
Thy  hand,  from  every  snare  and  foe, 

Shall  great  deliverance  bring. 

Sure  as  Thy  truth  shall  last. 

To  Zion  shall  be  given 
The  brightest  glories  earth  can  yield, 

And  brighter  bliss  of  Heaven. 


THE    END. 


WORKS  OF  PRACTICAL  UTILITY, 


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NOAD'S  CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS,  Qualitatire  and  Quantitative,  edited 
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MISS  MAY'S  FEMALE  POETS  OF  AMERICA:  with  Biographical  and 
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fully illustrated  edition,  12  plates,  elegantly  bound. 
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trated by  12  plates,  and  l>eautifully  bound. 
Also,  a  12rQ0  edition,  with  2  plates. 
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WATSON'S  NEW  DICTIONARY  OF  POETICAL  QUOTATIONS,  con- 
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A  plain  and  an  illustrated  edition,  in  various  bindings. 
•  4. 

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Rev.  n.  Hastings  Weld. 

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THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  containing  the  Female  Charac 
ters  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament;  illustrated  by  11  steel  engrav- 
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ers.   Illustrated  by  8  steel  plates  and  2  illuminated  pages. 

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Cheap  or  fine  editions  of  the  four  last-named  volumes  can  be  had,  in 
various  bindings,  forming  together  an  illustrated  Scriptural  series, 
suitable  for  either  the  centre-table  or  library. 

a. 

TREASURED  THOUGHTS  FROM  FAVORITE  AUTHORS,  collected 
and  arranged  by  Caroline  May,  editor  of  ''The  American  Female 
Poets,"  &c.     A  neat  12mo  volume. 

"Containing  many  gems  of  thought  from  writers  of  the  highest  ce- 
lebrity, on  themes  of  permanent  interest." — Observer. 


A  NEW  AND  IMPORTANT  EDUCATIONAL  WORK. 


'S  Ca^ 


OF  FAMILIAR  THINGS 


THEIR    HISTORY,    AND     THE    EVEXTS    WHICH    LED   TO   THEIR 

discovery;    WITH   A    SHORT   EXPLANATION    OF 

SOME    OP    THE    PRINCIPAL 

NATURAL     PHENOMENA. 

FOR  THE  USE  OF  SCHOOLS  AND  FAMILIES. 

BY  EMILY  ELIZABETH  WILLEMENT. 

CAREFULLY   REVISED   BY   AN   AMERICAN   TEACHER. 


Extract  from  the  Preface. 

"I  wish  especially  to  direct  the  attention  of  parents  and  teachers  to  Uie  ne- 
cessity of  possessing  a  work  calculated  to  save  them  much  fatigue  in  the  respon- 
sible office  of  education.  The  subjects  contained  in  it  may  seem  in  themselves 
unimportant  or  iusi^nilicant.  But  do  not  children  often  ask  a  variety  of  ques- 
tions on  those  very  subjects  at  times  when  the  parent  or  teacher  is  not  at  leisure 
to  answer  them  properly  T— questions  on  tiie  most  simple  subjects,  asked  m 
Buch  a  manner  as  to  puzzle  the  cleverest.  Besides,  is  there  one  thins  used  by 
us  in  the  daily  business  of  life  without  its  historical  interest?  Decidedly  not; 
alttioua:h,  from  their  commonness,  many  are  passed  by  as  unimportant.  I  con- 
gider  tliat  to  trace  them  to  their  source  is  not  only  amusins:,  but  highly  instruc- 
tive ;  for  there  is  scarcely  one  which  is  not  connected  with  some  epoch  import- 
ant in  the  history  of  the  world." 

OPINIONS     OF     THE     PRESS. 

This  very  neat  little  book  contains  a  mass  of  valuable  information,  condensed 
tn  the  form  of  questions  and  answers,  relating  to  familiar  thinKS,  about  which 
children,  and  even  grown  pereons,  need  to  be  instructed  — the  history  of 
familiar  things  and  the  events  which  led  to  their  discovery,  with  explanations 
of  natural  phenomena.  &c.  <tc.  For  example  :  there  are  chapters  e.xplanatory 
of  Dew,  Ruin.  Atmosphere,  Lightning,  Twilight,  Aurora,  <tc.  Sec. :  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  earth,  such  as  Corn,  Barley,  Oats,  Potatoes,  <i:c. ;  of  manufac- 
tures, as  Cahco,  Cloth,  Baize.  Linen,  Stockings,  Shoes.  Glass.  Mirrors,  Specta- 
cles, Mariners'  Compass,  Magnetic  Telegraph,  <tc.  <tc. :  of  Metals,  Precious 
Stones,  Arcliitecture,  and  kindred  arts  :  Music,  Painting,  and  the  Arts  and  Sci- 
ences generally.  It  is  just  such  a  book  as  every  parent  should  have  to  instruct 
his  child  from,  and  as  could  be  used  in  a  school  with  great  advantage  and  plea- 
sure to  the  pupils. — Traveller. 

This  volume  comprises  a  large  amount  of  information  in  regard  to  every  thing 
that  man  eats.drinks,  breathes,  wears,  uses  for  building,  for  ornament  orluxur)'. 
It  is  a  kind  of  encyclopedia,  defining  the  ndme,  and  often  the  mode  of  procuring 
or  manufacturing,  almost  every  thing  used  in  common  life  ;  and  can  readily  be 
consaiied.— Christian  Mirror. 

The  varied  phenomena  of  earth  and  air,  fire  and  water,  with  most  of  the  im- 
portant elements  in  uature  and  art,  that  constitute  the  globe  a  fitting  habitation 
for  our  race,  are  set  forth  m  this  volume,  in  a  condensed,  pleasant,  and  instruc- 
tive form. — Episcopal  Recorder. 

A  novel  and  very  useful  peculiarity  of  this  catechistic  compendium  is  the  in- 
sertion of  the  meaning  of  the  most  difficult  words  or  terms  occurring  in  each 
answer  at  the  end  of  it.  The  work,  without  these  derivative  explanations,  is 
copious,  accurate,  exi)licit,  and  well  calculated  to  blend  in  the  youthful  mind 
entertainment  which  shall  be  impressive,  with  instruction  which  shall  be  vei' 
maaent.— Hood's  Magazine. 


A  NEW  AND  IMPORTANT  EDUCATIONAL  WORK. 


WILLEMENT'S  CATECHISM  OF  FJMILUR  THINGS: 

THEIB    niSTORY,    AND     THE    EVENTS    WHICH   LED    TO   THEIR 

DISCOVERY ;    WITH   A    SHOUT   EXPLANATION    OF 

SOME    OF   THE    PRINCIPAL 

NATURAL     PHENOMENA. 

FOR  THE  USE  OF  SCHOOLS  AND  FAMILIES. 

BY  EMILY  ELIZABETH  WILLEMENT. 

CAREFULLY   REVISED   BY   AN   AMERICAN   TEACHER. 


Extract  from  the  Preface. 
"I  wish  especiall)'  to  direct  the  attention  of  parents  and  teachers  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  possessing:  a  work- calculated  to  save  them  much  fatigue  in  the  respon- 
sible office  of  eiiuciuiou.  The  subjects  contained  in  it  may  seem  in  theinselyes 
unimportant  or  insignificant.  But  do  not  children  often  asl{  a  variety  of  ques- 
tions on  tliose  very  sulyects  at  times  when  the  parent  or  teacher  is  not' at  leisure 
to  answor  them  properly  ?— questions  on  the  most  simple  subjects,  asked  in 
such  a  manlier  as  lo  puzzle  the  cleverest.  Besides,  is  there  one  thing  used  by 
ns  in  the  daily  business  of  life  without  its  historical  interest?  Decidedly  not; 
although,  from  tlieir  commotiness,  many  are  passed  by  as  unimportant.  I  con- 
sider that  to  trace  them  to  their  source  is  not  only  amusing,  but  highly  instruc- 
tive ;  for  there  is  scarcely  one  which  is  not  connected  with  some  epoch  import- 
ant m  the  history  of  the  world." 

OPINIONS     OF     THE     PRESS. 

This  very  neat  little  book  contains  a  mass  of  valuable  information,  condensed 
In  the  form  of  questions  and  answers,  relating  to  familiar  things,  about  which 
children,  and  even  grown  persons,  need  to  be  instructed —  the  history  of 
familiar  things  and  the  events  which  led  to  their  discovery,  with  explanations 
of  natural  phenomena,  &c.  <5cc.  For  e.Tample  :  there  are  chapters  explanatory 
of  Dew,  Rain.  Atmosphere,  Lightning,  Twilight,  Aurora,  (fcc.  etc. :  of  the  pro- 
dactions  of  the  earth,  such  as  Corn.  Barley,  Oats.  Potatoes,  Ac. ;  of  manufac- 
tures, as  Calico,  Cloth,  Baize,  Linen,  Stockings,  Shoes,  Glass.  Mirrors,  Specta- 
cles, Mariners'  Compass,  Magnetic  Telfgraph,  <tc.  <kc.  :  of  Metals,  Precious 
Stones,  Architecture,  and  kindred  arts:  Alusic,  Painting,  and  the  Arts  and  Sci- 
ences generally.  It  is  just  such  a  book  as  every  parent  should  have  to  instruct 
his  child  from,  and  as  could  be  used  in  a  school  with  great  advantage  and  plea- 
sure to  the  i>npi\s. —Travelkr. 

This  volume  comprises  a  large  amount  of  information  in  regard  to  every  thing 
that  man  eats.drinks,  breathes,  wears,  uses  for  building,  for  ornament  or  luxury. 
It  is  a  kind  of  encyclopedia,  defining'lhe  name,  and  often  the  mode  of  procuring 
or  manufacturing,  almost  every  thing  used  in  common  life ;  and  can  readdy  be 
consulted.— CAns/ia?j  Mirror. 

The  varied  phenomena  of  earth  and  air,  fire  and  water,  with  moat  of  the  im- 
portant elements  in  uature  and  art.  that  constitute  the  globe  a  fitting  hal)it;ition 
for  our  race,  are  set  forth  in  this  volume,  in  a  condensed,  pleasant,  and  instruc- 
tive form. — Episcopal  Recorder. 

A  novel  and  very  useful  peculiarity  of  this  catechistic  compendium  is  the  in- 
sertion of  the  meaning  of  the  most  difficult  words  or  terms  occurring  in  each 
answer  at  the  end  of  it.  The  work,  without  these  derivative  e.vplanalidiis.  is 
copious,  accurate,  explicit,  and  well  calciibited  to  blend  in  the  youthful  mind 
entertainment  which  shall  be  impre.ssive,  wjtli  instruction  which  shall  be  per- 
manent.— Hood's  Magazine. 


WILLEMENT  S    CATECHISM    OF   FAMILIAR   THINGS. 

Opinions  of  the  Press. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  enclyclopcedias  for  the  use  of  children,  we 
have  ever  seen.  It  contains  many  subjects  of  great  importance  to  the  risin? 
generation,  and  is  written  in  a  plain  style,  divested  as  far  as  [Kjssible  of  all  tech- 
nicalities, treating:,  in  a  small  space,  of  the  various  phenomena  of  nature,  the 
general  histonr  of  the  mineral,  vegetable,  and  animal  kinRdoms,  and  an  outline 
of  the  arts  and  sciences.  Parents,  eet  it  for  your  children,  and  by  so  doin?  add 
to  their  knowledge,  and  save  yourselves  considerable  trouble.— i'enn.  Tekgraph. 

We  can  very  highly  recommend  this  book.  It  contains  a  large  amount  of 
mformalion  that  immediately  concerns  every  human  being.  For  family  reading 
it  is  especially  attractive,  and  will  well  repay  perusal.  It  treats  of  the  various 
phenomena  of  nature,  the  leading  cliai-aeteristics  and  general  history  of  the  ob- 
ject.s  of  the  animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms,  and  the  fundamental 
troths  of  the  arts  and  sciences.  The  language  of  the  writer  is  simple  and  per- 
spicuous, and  will  therefore  interest  juvenile  readers. — City  Item. 

This  is  a  work  of  very  deep  interest,  and  of  great  value.  The  mineral,  the 
animal,  and  the  vegetatile  kingdoms,  all  pass  under  review,  and  are  treated  in 
a  manner  to  develop  and  impress  the  great  facts,  connected  with  each,  on  the 
mind  of  the  student.  The  arts  and  sciences  also  come  in  for  a  place,  and  are 
treated  in  a  similar  maaner.  Children,  youth,  and  families,  as  a  whole,  may 
gather  much  instruction  by  this  book,  on  the  important  topics  alluded  to.— 
CImatian  Chronicle. 

We  have  here  a  great  mass  of  information  condensed  within  \&Ty  narrow 
limits,  touching  almost  every  thing  that  we  have  to  do  with  in  common  life. 
There  is  hardly  any  thing  connected  v.ith  our  food  or  ralmen/;.  our  dwellings, 
Dur  occupations,  or  our  amusements,  but  what  is  here  very  intelliijonlly  and 
agreeably  discoursed  upon,  even  to  the  comprehension  of  a  child.  If  children 
study  it  well,  there  is  a  great  chance  that  they  will  be  wiser  in  some  tilings 
than  their  parents.— Puritan  Recorder. 

The  work  is  just  such  an  one  as  we  have  long  thought  would  be  very  accept- 
able to  the  public,  and  especially  to  school  teachers.  It  or  something  as  near 
like  It  as  possible  should  be  in  every  school  in  the  land. — Courier. 

It  is  desismed  for  use  in  schools  and  families,  and  furnishes  a  most  excellent 
and  agreeable  iiiethnd  of  imparting  useful  knowledge  on  all  familiar  subjects, 
their  history,  their  character,  &.c.—Bidletin. 

This  little  work  well  deserves  extensive  circulation ;  for  truly  it  contains 
"muitum  in  parvo"  of  such  information  as  is  most  hkely  to  arrest  the  attention 
of  youthful  minds.  The  style  is  easy  and  pleasant,  all  technical  phrases  care- 
fully omitted,  and  the  book  well  adapted  to  its  purpose  of  providing  "  an  impor- 
tant auxiliary  in  the  dissemination  of  useful  and  entertaining  knowledge." — 
Sartain's  Magazine. 

This  book  presents  a  mass  of  information,  in  a  condensei  form,  on  all  kinds 
of  things  which  enter  into  the  every-day  concerns  of  life ;  the  air  we  breathe, 
the  food  we  eat,  the  raiment  we  are  clothed  with,  the  habitations  we  dwell  in, 
the  constitution  of  our  mortal  frame,  arts,  commerce  and  manufactures,  are 
cleverly  ti«eated  of  by  Question  and  Answer,  and  form  a  mine  of  useful  informa- 
tion.  We  recommend  it  to  the  attention  of  parents  and  tutors. — Essex  Standard. 

A  vast  quantity  of  information  is  so  admirably  condensed,  and  so  much  really 
useful  knowledge  is  conveyed  in  so  pleasing  and  infelligibie  a  style,  that  we  can 
honestly  award  praise  We  congratulate  Mrs.  Willement  upon  having  success- 
fully accomplished  her  task,  and  heartily  recommend  her  meritorious  and  un- 
pretending work. — Norfolk  Chronicle. 

A  useful  contribution  to  the  cause  of  Learning  made  easy.—Athenartm. 

A  compact  and  well-printed  edition  of  a  most  useful  book  for  children  ;  and 
indeed,  a  book  of  reference  for  M.~Jerrold's  Wec'tli/  Newspaper. 

We  confidently  rexommend  it  to  all  who  are  intrusted  with  the  education  of 
children  —Ipswich  Express. 


